Star (Wars) vs The Forces of Evil
by EDD17SP
Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a pair of Jedi Padawans, Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, find themselves on the run as Darth Sidious enacts his plans to destroy the Jedi Order. But these best friends are destined to fulfill a prophecy, one that the Jedi never even knew existed... Cover art by @andychipss
1. Title Crawl

A long time ago in a galaxy far,  
far away...

**STAR  
****WARS**

**EPISODE IIIa**

**BOUND BY THE FORCE**

** The death of Separatist leader Count Dooku has sparked panic among the supporters of the Confederacy of Independant Systems and ****a****n end to the war may finally be near****. ****Hunting down the nefarious General Grievous has become top priority for the Galactic Republic, as the Senate will not allow the fighting to cease until the leader of the droid army has been destroyed. **

**With an end to the Clone War in sight, unassigned Padawan learners in the Jedi Temple eagerly await Jedi Knights to return from battle to continue their instruction. Among them are STAR BUTTERFLY, princess of the planet Mewni, and MARCO DIAZ. Inseparable friends since their Jedi training began as children, these two younglings are prepared for the next step of their Jedi training.**

**Little do they know of the unforeseen dangers that are about to befall them, and the prophecy unknown to the Jedi that they are destined to fulfill...**

* * *

The Jedi Temple on Coruscant is a multi-faceted facility. It is a home to every Jedi Master, Knight, and Padawan, as well as a meeting place, and a tomb for warriors fallen. It houses one of the galaxy's largest collections of knowledge and a hanger for some of the most advanced starfighters ever constructed. It's myriad of uses turns the Temple into a massive center for activity during war time as Jedi generals strategize with the Republic's other military leaders and coordinate troops all across the galaxy. But, despite all of the constant bustle, and despite being located in the middle of Coruscant's incredibly busy planet-wide city, the Jedi Temple is considered to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places anywhere.

At this particular moment, however, that was not the case.

The tranquility of the courtyard in the Temple's center was being interrupted by the cacophony of hums and cracks coming from the clashing of two lightsabers, the wielders of each ferociously fighting for supremacy. The two glowing blades twirled and spun through the still air, each duelist seeking a gap in the other's defenses.

The blades clashed again but did not bounce off one another as the one currently on the offense pressed hard against the other, attempting to wear them out.

"You won't get the better of me this time!" the attacker cried over the crackling of the blades. "I know all your tricks!"

The other flashed a smile of perfect teeth. "Do not forget who taught you those tricks, young one. I may have taught you everything you know, but I have yet to teach you everything I know."

"Could you two please stop trash-talking each other and one of you just win already? I'm getting hungry." These words came from Star Butterfly, spectating the fight from her seat on a large rock nearby.

Her best friend and fellow Jedi-in-training Marco Diaz did not avert his focus to look her way, but did acknowledge her request. "Fine! Watch this!"

He switched off his lightsaber and dove toward the ground underneath his opponent's blade. He tucked in his head and limbs as he rolled past Jedi Master Kit Fisto's legs and sprang back to his feet behind him. He pressed the activation plate on his lightsaber's hilt, the aqua blade hissing back to life as his arm swung toward the back of Kit's head. To his surprise, Kit had flipped his lightsaber backwards and upside down over his head to block the attack. Their blades locked again.

"Impressively creative move!" Kit exclaimed. "Very good, Marco!" He looked toward Star and winked at her. Star chuckled. "But not quite good enough." Kit let himself fall over backwards, flipping his lightsaber up so that it hooked Marco's from the back, catching the Padawan completely by surprise as the lightsaber was yanked from his grip and sent flying across the courtyard, the blade shrinking back into the hilt as it did.

Now lying on his back, emerald blade pointed skyward, Kit tipped the training saber backwards and bonked Marco on the nose with it.

"Ouch!" Marco yelped. The training lightsaber was not powerful enough to inflict any real damage, but it still hurt.

Kit jumped back to his feet and extinguished his lightsaber while Star enthusiastically applauded. "Woo! Way to show him how it's done, Master Fisto!"

Kit chuckled and took a flourishing bow, playing along as she teased Marco. "Thank you, Star, thank you. You're too kind."

Marco rubbed the back of his neck. "I have to hand it to you, Master. Just when I think I'm going to finally beat you, you surprise me again."

Kit smiled at him. "Marco, your skills with a lightsaber are very advanced for your age and experience. You should be very proud of yourself. If you continue practicing, I have no doubt that you will get the better of me one of these days."

Marco felt very humbled. "Thank you, Master. It's been an honor to practice with you these last few months. It really is very kind of you to teach me in your free time while I wait to be assigned a Master."

Kit placed a hand on Marco's shoulder. "No trouble at all. I've rather enjoyed dueling with you." Kit chuckled. "You know, even though you haven't beaten me yet, you have managed to keep me on my toes, so it is good practice for me, too. Keeps my skills sharp."

Star strolled up beside Kit and gave Marco a sly, teasing look. "He still hasn't beaten you, though, Master. That means he's dead. Fifteen or sixteen times over, he's dead."

"I believe the count is up to seventeen now, actually, Star," Kit laughed.

Marco groaned. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't _you_ take a turn dueling with Master Fisto?"

Star pointed across the courtyard in the direction Marco's weapon had sailed through the air. "And why don't you retrieve your training saber from over there with the Force?"

Kit made a few inferences in his mind based on that exchange, but he said nothing and continued to observe.

Marco turned red. "I can! I will! Watch me!" He held his hand out toward where his training saber had landed and focused, calling it to his hand with the Force. The lightsaber twitched, and then slowly dragged along the stone floor, bouncing over the gaps in the rock. It took a painfully long time for it to halve the distance to where Marco stood.

Star shook her head. "This is hard to watch." She held out her own hand and the training saber rose off the ground before rocketing into her hand.

Kit's dark, black eyes involuntarily narrowed in thought. "Marco...I think you and I have been practicing the wrong skills."

Marco looked away in embarrassment and said nothing.

"It isn't his skills in the Force that are lacking, Master," Star said. "It's his connection to the Force."

"Yeah..." Marco said quietly. "My midichlorian count is just barely high enough for me to be Force-sensitive. No matter how hard I try, I'm just...too weak." He kicked a pebble on the ground. "Not much I can do about that."

Kit knelt down to be closer to Marco's height. "Marco," he said quietly, "the strength of your connection to the Force does not change your ability to use it. You should be able to use the Force just as effectively as myself and Star. It will take a great deal of concentration and focus, far more than other Jedi, but..." He gave Marco a determined smile. "I know you can do it."

Marco had his doubts. His Jedi training had begun when he was barely old enough to walk, and he had not improved much. "What makes you so sure?"

"Your lightsaber skills, of course. You must have a great deal of self-discipline to become as good with a lightsaber as you are without being able to feel your opponent's movements in the Force. If you can become as good as you are with a blade, you should also be able to learn to use the Force as well as any other Jedi."

Marco could not help but smile. "Thank you, Master."

Kit stood up again. "In fact...I am so confident that you can and will learn the ways of the Force..." He paused. "With Count Dooku gone, the war is not likely to continue on much longer. When the fighting is over, how would you like to be my apprentice?"

A feeling of shock washed over Marco like a wave. When it passed, his face lit up, and he opened his mouth to accept...

...but then he caught sight of Star's face. Her nearly perpetual glow of positivity had vanished in an instant. She stared at him, and Marco thought she looked almost frightened.

His elation faded. "That is...an amazing offer, Master Fisto. I will..." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "...certainly think about it."

Kit was rather confused, but he did not dwell on it. "Of course." He turned. "Now, I'm afraid you two will have to excuse me. The council is convening shortly and I do not want to be late."

The two padawans bowed to the Jedi Master, and he returned the gesture.

"Padawan Diaz, it was a pleasure to practice with you, as always. I look forward to our next encounter."

"As do I, Master."

Kit handed his training saber to Marco and then turned to Star. "And next time, you will not get out of a duel with me, too."

Star laughed nervously. "Heh heh...greaaaat."

"So long, you two." And the Nautolan Jedi Master left.

Now alone with Marco, Star strolled over to her friend's side. "So...can we go get some food now?"

"Is food all you ever think about?" Marco asked, looking for any reason to repay her earlier teasing.

The words that came out of Star's mouth were not the same ones she was thinking. "Yeah, pretty much."

It was only three words, but in the seconds it took his best friend to say them, Marco's eyes were reading anxiety on Star's face, and his ears caught a nervous tick in her voice. Something was off, something that had not been there this morning or even when he and Kit had begun their mock-duel. It was clear Star had something weighing on her mind, but Marco decided not to bring it up.

At least, not just yet.

"Alright, I could go for some food, too. Lightsaber dueling works up an appetite."

"Oh? I didn't know you could be hungry when you're dead."

Marco scowled and rolled his eyes. "Let's just go."

* * *

Britta's Taco's was something of an enigma. Standing amidst all of the glittering and luxurious night clubs, theaters, restaurants, and the Galactic Senate building and Jedi Temple in Coruscant's uppermost levels, Britta's Taco's was a tiny establishment with outdoor only seating. It was the most inexpensive and easily accessible food in the upper levels, which made it particularly popular with construction workers and technicians who worked in the upper levels but lived further down in Coruscant's endless layers of buildings. The place served food that they referred to as "Mexican," and while none of the patrons could figure out what that was, most agreed that they would much rather eat their fill at Britta's for a handful of credits than spend a fortune at one of Coruscant's top-tier dining venues.

The taco stand was Star and Marco's favorite place to eat. Sure, they could eat in the Temple's mess hall, and as Jedi they would be honored as welcome guests nearly anywhere. But here, they were just two teenagers out for a bite. They preferred it that way, going so far as to trade their traditional Jedi garb for more comfortable clothes that would easily blend in with the crowd at Britta's.

Marco watched Star chewing her food. Gone were the brief glimpses of anxiousness he had detected half an hour ago. She seemed to have returned back to her usual joyful self.

_I bet I know what's on her mind,_ Marco thought. _But I won't ask her about it just yet. Let's see, just make normal conversation. Don't let her know I know something is wrong._

"What do you think the Council talks about?"

Star swallowed. "Huh?"

"The Jedi Council. I've never been called to appear before them, and I've never asked what they say in there. What do you think they talk about?"

* * *

_At that very moment..._

* * *

_"What about the droid attack on the wookies?"_

"It is critical we send an attack group there immediately."

"He's right. It's a system we cannot afford to lose."

* * *

"I guarantee you, nothing even remotely interesting." Star took another bite of her burrito and continued speaking while she chewed. "They're probably all just like 'Blah blah blah ba ba blah General Grievous, blah blah disturbance in the Force, blah blah blah Chancellor Palpatine. Blah. Blah. Blah."

Marco laughed. "Can you just imagine the Jedi Council members staring at each other fish-eyed and mumbling 'blah blah blah'?"

Star snorted through a mouthful of burrito. "Oh, man. I'd totally cut off my left arm to see that!"

When they'd both calmed their laughter and resumed eating, Marco thought to himself _Okay, this is good. I got her to laugh. Let her forget all about whatever was bothering her and feeling comfortable, and then I'll try to ease into asking her about it._

"So..." Star began as Marco took a sip of his drink, "why didn't you accept Master Fisto's offer?"

Marco nearly choked. _Because I saw the look on your face_. "Because I saw-" _Don't say that, idiot!_ "-I, uh, I saw that Aalya Secura doesn't have a Padawan and thought, hey, who wouldn't want to train with a beautiful Twi'lek, you know, maybe, uh, maybe..." _Woooowwww...smooth move, me._

Star furrowed her brow at him. "Marco, we've been friends for, like, twelve years. I know you're lying. I remember when you first asked Kit if he'd teach you some lightsaber moves, you went on and on about how amazing it would be to train with him. You'd probably have a poster of him on your wall if such a thing existed. I thought you would have jumped at the chance to be his Padawan when he offered."

Marco sighed. _Well, I guess I'm gonna have to bring it up now._ "I didn't accept because..." He turned his eyes downcast. "Because I saw the look on your face when he asked me."

Star blushed. "What? What look? I didn't have a look!"

"You know, I can tell when you're lying, too." Star said nothing in reply and stared at her food. "Come on, Star...just tell me what's wrong. You know you can tell me anything."

It was Star's turn to sigh. "I...I have been dreading this day for a long time, and I knew it would be coming soon...I just didn't think it would be...today."

Marco was confused. "Huh?"

"Marco...I...I don't want to be a Jedi," she said slowly.

Marco blinked in shock, but could not find his voice.

Star continued. "They started our training when we were so young, told us all the rules and we just accepted them because we didn't know any different. But the last couple of years...We've made friends outside of the Order, and I'm starting to see that being a Jedi..." She shrugged. "Honestly kinda sucks. And now I don't want to be one. Plus, I don't want to have to get involved in this dumb war! I can't imagine having to..." She thought of her lightsaber laying on her bed at the Temple. "...kill someone."

Marco was not even sure where to begin. "Uh...well, I mean...yeah, I don't really want to get involved with the war, either. But, hey, it's not like we're prisoners of the Order. You can always just leave. You could go back to Mewni and be a princess again."

Star rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because being a princess is sooooo much better than being a Jedi. That's, like, even more rules!"

"Okay, fair point. But you still don't have to stay. It's a huge galaxy, you could go anywhere and do anything! What would you rather do?" _Wait, am I trying to convince her to leave? That's not what I want! I want the opposite of that!_

"I don't know...that's why I haven't already left. Well, that and-" She broke off.

Marco waited for her to finish, but it did not appear she was about to speak again. "And what?"

Star picked up what was left of her burrito, looked away from Marco, and crammed the entire thing into her mouth. Marco started at her for two solid minutes while his best friend struggled to mash the burrito with her teeth enough to be swallowed, refusing to let himself become distracted by the speeders whizzing by overhead and the variety of beings milling around them at the Taco stand. When she had nearly swallowed all of the burrito, Star picked up her drink and quickly washed it down.

As soon as she'd set her drink cup back down on the table, Marco repeated "That and what?"

Star bit her lip. "That and...you."

Marco's heart skipped a beat. "Me?"

"No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a Jedi. They just brought me here and trained me, and I hate it. But the one thing that I've loved about all the years I've spent here is that I got to meet you. I wouldn't trade the time I've spent with you over the years for anything." Marco could not help but smile as she leaned forward a tiny bit. "I was in the library by myself one day and I heard Madam Jocasta say to Master Yoda 'I'm surprised that Diaz boy isn't with her. Those two are practically inseparable.'" Then Star closed her eyes. "I always knew that someday we'd be assigned Masters and that would probably be the end of us spending time together. I've dreaded that for a long time. And now...Master Fisto wants to teach you. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled for you. I know how much you want to be a Jedi and how much it would mean to you to train with Kit, but...I don't want you to disappear. Without you, I don't have or even want a place in the Jedi Order." And she looked away.

Again, Marco was not even sure where to begin in the landslide of information he had just been hit with. He reached across the table and took one of her hands in his. She looked at him, her eyes shimmering slightly with moisture. "Star...I-" _love you_. "-don't want to lose our friendship, either. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't worry about being separated when the time came for our training to continue, too."

Star wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her free arm. "Really?"

"Of course." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Star...you know how excited I am to become a Jedi Knight. But if I have to choose between completing my training and being able to always spend time with you like we do now...I'd choose you every time."

Star managed a small smile.

"Look, I probably won't be assigned a teacher officially until after the war is over," Marco went on. "Once the Clone Wars have been resolved, if you want to leave the Order..." He swallowed nervously. He was positive that this was truly what he wanted, but he was still scared to say it. "I'll come with you, anywhere you want to go."

"You...you would really give up on becoming a Jedi?"

"I sure would." And he gave her a reassuring smile. "What do you think?"

Star squeezed his hand back. "I think...I think you should tell Master Fisto that you accept his offer."

Marco felt like he had just been blindsided by a speeder bike. "...what?"

"You shouldn't have to give up on your dream just to make me happy."

"But I don't want you to be unhappy. Seems to me the way we'll both be happiest is if we both leave."

"I know, but I know you really want to be a Jedi, so...I will stay."

"Star-"

"I'll be okay. As long as you promise me that no matter what, you and I will always be best friends."

"I promise you, Star. No matter what happens, I will make sure that we see each other as often as possible, and we will never stop being friends."

Star's face morphed into a determined grin. "And someday, when our training is complete, you and I will be the most tail-kicking Jedi duo the galaxy has ever seen!"

Marco squeezed her hand hard and she squeezed back. "You bet we will!"

**A huge thank you to andychipss on Instagram for the amazing cover art! She did a fantastic job!**

**I made a legit opening title crawl which you can watch on YouTube! Link is on my bio page, right at the top! **

**Okay, hey everybody! I have to put my first author's note at the end of the chapter so that it doesn't disrupt the opening. **

**I am trying very hard not to commit the fanficing sin of jumping into the action too soon instead of first giving a good set up, but you know where I chose to start this based on the title crawl so you know it's about to pick up real fast. If you want to know what to look forward to in this story, here's some extra info:**

**Plenty of characters from SVTFoE will be in this story, but none of them show up for the first couple of chapters. Tom, Janna, Buff Frog, Moon and River, even Pony Head (yes, the floating severed unicorn head is in this story, though probably not how you're expecting) and others will all be worked into the Star Wars lexicon. Plus, there will be appearances from a number of Star Wars characters besides Kit Fisto, (but I won't spoil who) and plenty of in-universe Star Wars locations. When I say crossover, I mean CROSSOVER. **

**Fair warning: this story is going to be violent and there will be some character deaths, so if that isn't your thing, maybe don't read any further. **

**I'm not sure how often this will be updated or if I'll even actually finish it. (This story is gonna be LONNNNNG.) I never finished my Phineas and Ferb Star Wars story, so who knows how long it will be before my resurgence for fanfiction writing fizzles out? But right now I am really into it and I'm cranking out a chapter every few days, so we'll see how far I get. **


	2. Rematch

**I'm just gonna say this up front:**

**Trying to write a lightsaber duel is the worst. I do not recommend it. Thankfully, I don't have to write another one for quite awhile. **

The mid-afternoon Coruscanti sun cast a warm glow on the courtyard of the Jedi Temple. It was another day, the weather warm, the air clear.

Perfect for more lightsaber practice.

An emerald beam of energy sprang from the hilt of Star's lightsaber. "Shouldn't we be using training sabers for this?"

Kit chuckled. "It is important that you become used to your own lightsaber." He held up his own deactivated weapon in front of her face. "The kyber crystal at its heart has a strong connection to the Force just as you do. You must form a bond with it. When you've formed a connection with your lightsaber through the Force, it becomes a part of you, an extension of yourself. You move as one." He looked past Star at Marco a few dozen yards away, who was practicing on his own. "Just look at Marco."

Star turned and watched as Marco went through the classic motions of Shii-Cho lightsaber form. The blue blade slashed and spun through the air almost effortlessly, great sweeping movements that seemed to flow almost effortlessly from one, into the next, into the next.

"Marco has a very strong connection to his weapon despite his own low connectivity to the Force. Mostly because he really, really wants to," he added with a chuckle. "The Force guides his arm and his blade together." He whispered, "And Marco doesn't even realize it." And he winked at Star. "Once you learn the forms, you'll be able to use any lightsaber just as well as any other, but learning will be easiest with one you share a bond with."

"I still feel like I should be using a training saber," Star said. "I don't want to accidentally cut you in half...or cut myself in half."

"You won't," Kit laughed. "I will not let you." He ignited his own green-bladed lightsaber and stood facing Star as Marco extinguished his and came closer to observe. "Now," said Kit, "take a deep breath. Just relax."

"Okay," Star said nervously. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the breath out slowly.

"Reach out from within. Touch your lightsaber not just with your hand, but with the Force. Feel that living crystal inside, giving your weapon life."

Star breathed steadily, letting her subconscious slip away into the Force, focusing on the lightsaber in her hand.

"Go ahead, Star," Marco urged. "See how it feels."

Her eyes still closed, Star slowly gave her lightsaber a small flourish and twirl, the blade's hum changing pitch as it moved.

"How does it feel?"

She turned the sword over in her hands. "Actually, it feels...different."

"Different?"

"Yeah...different." She opened her eyes.

Kit smiled. "I suppose that's a start." Kit took his ready stance, holding his lightsaber low directly in front of him with both hands. "Are you ready, Star?"

"I guess..." She took her own ready stance, mirroring Kit's, but, as she always did when she wielded a laser sword, something did not feel natural.

Marco could see the discomfort written on her face. "Everything okay, Star?"

"Uh...this just doesn't feel right. Master...can I try something different?"

"Of course, Star."

Star gave her blade a twirl and then changed her stance, holding her lightsaber one-handed and pointed out to the side, her other hand behind her back at the opposite angle for balance. "This feels better."

"Interesting..." Kit noted.

"In a bad way?"

"No, just interesting. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"You can do it, Star!" Marco said encouragingly.

Kit raised his lightsaber and then struck, and Star blocked the attack. A steady stream of successive strikes followed, and Star blocked each one, wielding her blade with just one hand, using the Force to fortify her grip.

"Not bad, Star," Fisto said, stepping back and returning to neutral position. "Not bad at all."

"I've practiced enough to do alright with the basic stuff. Plus, you're not really trying to kill me like you do when you duel Marco."

Kit laughed heartily. "That is true. I do usually fight Marco like I'm trying to kill him."

"Which is why _we_ use training sabers," Marco said.

"Exactly. Even so, perhaps we should take it up a notch." He stepped forward again and let another barrage of attacks fly, some a bit outside of the normal Shii-Cho techniques, and still Star managed to defend against each one.

"Very good, Star. But you may want to try attacking me back. One does not win a battle on defense alone."

Star clenched her teeth together nervously. "Yeahhh..."

Kit once again gave an initial attack, and Star spun to the left out of the way, using the momentum to swing her lightsaber at Kit. Fisto blocked it and his movement carried into his next counterattack. Star tried to do the same, but halfway through her movement, with her lightsaber facing completely away from her opponent, froze as Kit's emerald blade stopped an inch from her neck.

"I have you," Kit said simply.

Star sighed. "Let's try again." And both Jedi returned to their ready positions. They fought again as Marco watched, and for a second time, Star was defeated as she tried to transition between a counter and an attack, and then a third time after that.

"Okay, I'm tagging out," Star announced, switching off her lightsaber and stepping back. "You're up, Marco."

"Come now, Star," said Kit, "we've only just begun."

"I know. I, uh, want to watch Marco fight you and actually pay attention to what he does. Maybe I can see what I'm doing wrong."

"Not a bad idea. Marco?"

Marco already had an idea of how to help Star's technique, but he thought perhaps he would wait until he and Star were alone. Besides, after his most recent defeat, Marco was eager for a rematch. "I'm always ready, Master." He took Star's place, assumed his ready stance, and ignited his blue lightsaber. "It's been awhile since we've dueled each other without training sabers. Maybe we ought to switch."

"I'm sure we will be fine. And I'll be sure not to bonk you on the nose when I beat you this time," Kit joked.

"Not gonna happen, old man. I got your number today!"

Kit smiled. "Those are some strong words, youngling." Kit assumed a much more aggressive ready stance than he used against Star, brandishing his lightsaber toward Marco. "I hope you can back them up."

"I think you know I can!"

"Will you two please just fight already? I am trying to learn!"

"Sorry, Star," they chorused.

They stared each other down for a few more seconds, both opponents waiting for the other to make the first move. It was Marco who struck first, and Kit countered, his movement flowing into his first offensive strike. Back and forth, their lightsabers clashed for a solid minute, then two, then five, each looking to gain an advantage while Star observed more closely than she ever had before.

In a surprise move, Marco extinguished his lightsaber and used the one Force-maneuver he had learned decently well to push off from the ground and vault over Kit's head, twisting around in mid-air and landing facing Kit's back. He ignited his blade again and struck, but Kit flippped his lightsaber behind his back to block it. When the two beams of energy bounced off each other, Marco was propelled backwards a step, creating a slight pause in the duel.

"Oh, I see," Kit said as he turned to face Marco. "You're resorting to tricks again."

Marco grinned tauntingly. "So what if I am?"

"Perhaps I will have to use a bit of trickery myself." Kit held his left hand out toward where Star stood observing.

"Hey!" Star yelped as her lightsaber flew from her hand and landed in Kit's. Her lightsaber hissed to life, the green blade joining his own. He gave Marco a teasing look.

The Padawan was unfazed. "You taught me how to defend against a duel-wielder, remember? You still aren't going to beat me this time."

"We shall see about that, _Master_ Diaz," Kit joked. He swiped both blades at Marco from opposite directions. Marco ducked under both and managed to get one parry in before the pair of swords against him let loose a barrage of quick attacks.

The three glowing blades created a blur of color so fast that Star's eyes could barely keep up with each move. They fought for three unbroken minutes and, even though Kit clearly had the upper hand, Marco managed to block every single move the Jedi Master made. Finally, they separated, each returning to a neutral stance.

"Someone has been learning Form III from Master Kenobi," Fisto said with a grin. "I recognize his style."

"Well, he has been in a heck of a lot of duels and the guy is still alive," Marco said with a shrug. "I figured he must be doing something right, so I watched a holorecording of him practicing with Master Skywalker a few years ago."

Kit chuckled. "Oh, Obi-Wan sure does have a lot of experience. I can't disagree with you on that." The instant the words left the Nautolan's mouth, he launched himself into the air, intending to repeat Marco's earlier trick to catch his opponent off-guard.

Marco, however, had plenty of time to react, and jogged four steps backwards. When Kit landed, there was only about half a meter separating them, catching the Jedi Master completely by surprise. Marco swung his lightsaber with all his strength while Kit was still trying to regain his balance and knocked Star's lightsaber from Fisto's left hand. It spiraled into the air over Marco's head, and he dove backward to catch it.

"Star!" he yelled, and he tossed the green saber past Kit and back to its rightful owner. Drawing the hilt to her hand with the Force, Star easily plucked the lightsaber out of the air. "C'mon, Star!" Marco called, "let's take him together!"

Fisto laughed. "What is the matter, Marco? You do not think you can best me on your own? Because-" He showed off his teeth as he smiled at Marco. "-I can still take you both."

"We'll see about that! C'mon, Star! What are you waiting for?"

Star did not move from where she stood. Her prospective opponents both motioned for her to join them, each smiling at her encouragingly. Still feeling the pull of hesitation, she joined Marco in facing Kit.

"I don't know that I can beat him alone," Marco said. While he still sounded determined and upbeat, there was weariness in his voice. This was easily the longest duel the Padawan had participated in, and, while Kit Fisto was still standing tall, Marco was beginning to tire. "Think you can help me?"

"I'll try my best."

"I should warn you two," Kit said as he slowly flipped his lightsaber over and over in his hand, "the speciality of Form I is fighting multiple opponents at once."

Star looked at Marco. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course. Just look for your opportunity. Go!"

Marco sprang into action with a swift attack to Kit's far left. His directional shift placed Star behind Kit, the Jedi Master between his two opponents. As Marco dealt blows as quickly as he could from the front, Kit would spin his lightsaber all the way around his body to block in the front and, in the same motion, parry at Star behind him. The cacophony of hums and crashes of three lightsabers reverberated through the Temple courtyard, the blades becoming a blurry swirl of blue and green.

Star blocked each and every one of Kit's strikes with relative ease, watching his motions carefully. Two minutes in, she realized that Fisto was forced to block against Marco nearly every time his lightsaber orbited his body. If she dodged his parry against her instead of blocking it, it shortened the time it took Kit to bring his lightsaber back to his front, allowing him to strike against Marco. That made the time it took to spin his lightsaber around his body back to her a tiny bit longer.

And that left a tiny gap in his defense that Star might just be able to take advantage of.

She watched every dip and spin and twist of Kit's blade, waiting for-

-there it was, a parry she could duck. Star spun on the ball of her foot as she ducked, snapping back up to full height as the momentum carried her lightsaber.

"HOLD!"

Marco and Kit froze, their lightsabers mid-clash. Detecting the singe of ozone in the air close by, Kit turned his head ever so slightly and found Star's emerald blade two inches from his neck. Marco's eyes lit up as he looked at Star.

"I, uh...I got you." And Star switched off her lightsaber. Kit and Marco's respective blades shrank back into the hilts of their weapons, as well.

"Way to go, Star!" Marco cried.

Kit smiled with pride at Star. "You see? You're better with a lightsaber than you thought!"

"Oh, please. There's no way I could have beaten you one-on-one."

"Perhaps." Kit returned his lightsaber to his belt. "But you were able to avoid being defeated yourself, and you were able to figure out how to win. Being a great swordsman is not all about form and technique. Sometimes, it's just about being able to outsmart your opponent. And," he continued, "we have learned perhaps the most important lesson of all." He paused impressively. "You and your friend Marco here make a very formidable team. Often, that is the most valuable asset of all."

"Wise words, indeed, Master Fisto."

Marco, Star and Kit all looked in the direction of the new voice to see Saesee Tiin, Agen Kolar, and the one who had just spoken, Mace Windu, approaching from across the courtyard.

"I apologize for interrupting, younglings," Windu said, "but I'm afraid we require Master Fisto on a matter of utmost importance."

Kit was visibly confused. "What is it?"

"I will, uh..." Windu looked at Star and Marco, who were watching and listening very closely. "I'll explain on the way. Please," he said, motioning for Kit to accompany them, "We must leave at once."

"Yes, right away," Kit said, but as the other three Jedi Masters left he did not immediately follow. "Well, Marco...Star...It appears my services are required elsewhere." He bowed to the two Padawans, who returned the gesture.

"We are honored as always, Master," Marco said.

Kit smiled. "As I am. To tell you the truth, I think some of the other council members are a little jealous that you ask me to train with you and none of them." And he winked at them, evoking some giggles from Star and Marco. "I suppose I had better hurry and catch up with them," he said, looking toward where the other three Jedi masters had headed. "I wonder what adventure might await me today. Probably something very, very boring."

All three of them laughed this time.

"Have a good evening, you two," Kit said, and he hurried away.

"So long, Master!" Marco called after him. Then he looked to Star. "So?"

"So what?"

"So you just beat a Jedi Master in lightsaber combat! How's it feel?"

Star shrugged. "You know. Whatever."

"'Whatever'? What do you mean 'whatever'?"

Star shrugged. "Uh, you know...I didn't really out-duel him. You had him pretty well distracted, and I took advantage of that. All I was doing was blocking until I had an opportunity."

Marco clipped his lightsaber to his belt and sat down on a large rock. "That was my whole plan."

Star crossed her arms. Her reply dripped with sarcasm. "Oh, really? You had a plan?"

"I saw when you were dueling Kit one-on-one that your defensive technique is good, but you tended leave yourself open when trying to strike. So, with both of us fighting him on opposite sides, if I could attack non-stop, he'd only be able to block me. I knew that meant he would throw all of his attacks at you, and that would leave him open to make a mistake." Star wasn't sure if she'd classify Marco's tone as bragging, but he definitely was not being very humble. "Which I knew you would take full advantage of."

Star rolled her eyes. "Surrre. All part of your plan."

Marco hopped back to his feet. "So you wanna go get some food?"

"I am actually kind of hungry, now that you mention it."

"Star, all I have to do is mention the mere suggestion of food, and you magically become hungry."

Star shrugged. "What can I say? It's a gift."

As they walked side-by-side out of the courtyard, Marco asked, "What do you think Master Windu needed Kit for?"

"I don't know, but did you notice that he wouldn't say in front of us?"

"I did, as a matter of fact. Must be something really, really important."

"And secret, clearly."

"Yes, and secret. I wonder what it was."

* * *

Kit stood patiently, watching from the open personnel bay of the waiting Republic LAAT/i gunship as Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker slowly walked toward him in the hanger of the Jedi Temple. He couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but he wasn't paying much attention anyway. Their mission to ensure the Chancellor would relinquish his emergency powers had been explained to him, but he didn't think that would be difficult to accomplish. Chancellor Palpatine was a very reasonable man, after all. Besides, Kit was fairly certain that this visit to the Senate building would mostly involve a back-and-forth dialogue between Windu and the Chancellor while he, Tiin, and Kolar sat behind Mace and listened. So certain he was, in fact, that he was not even thinking about the proceedings that would commence at the end of this impending gunship ride. He was far too busy thinking about how he might change his form a bit to beat Star and Marco when he challenged them to a rematch tomorrow.

Skywalker and Windu stopped as they reached the gunship.

"If what you've told me is true, you will have gained my trust," Kit heard Windu say. "But for now, remain here." Windu hopped aboard the gunship. "Wait in the council chambers until we return."

"Yes, Master," Skywalker replied. Kit thought he sounded quite dejected.

_He likely just wants to come along. Anakin has never liked being told to stay behind, regardless of what the mission is. He is going to be so bored now that the war is over, sitting around in the Temple all day._

_Could be good for the rest of us. He'll probably volunteer himself for any mission that will get him out of the Temple. Those of us with older bones can get some much needed rest while he takes care of all of the field work._

The gunship slowly took off from the hanger, bound for the Senate building.

"What was Anakin saying?" Saesee Tiin asked Windu.

"He was probably just asking if he could come along," Kit laughed. "Am I correct, Master?"

Windu slowly turned around, his expression serious. "Skywalker has just informed me of something very concerning." He paused. "He says he thinks the Chancellor is a Sith Lord."

Kit's large, dark eyes blinked in surprise. "Pardon me, Master...WHAT?!"

**I hope you've enjoyed Chapter 2! If you have, please leave a review. Knowing that anyone is enjoying my story really helps maintain my motivation to keep writing, and this story is going to be so long, I'm going to need a lot of motivation to see it through to completion! **

**I posted this Chapter because I finished writing Chapter 6. When I finish Chapter 7, I will post Chapter 3. **


	3. Order 66

**In case anyone is wondering why I use the metric system in this chapter and in subsequent chapters that may or may not have been posted yet depending on when you are reading this author's note, every Star Wars novel I've ever read favors metric over imperial units to describe sizes and distances, so I'm sticking with that...even though it makes it more difficult for me to visualize because I'm from 'Murica where we measure things in 'Murican units...I mean Imperial units.**

"First, I want you to go to the Jedi Temple. We will catch them off-balance. Do what must be done, Lord Vader."

* * *

The door slid quietly open and Marco poked his head out into the corridor. Night had fallen over the Jedi Temple and the lights had been dimmed. Marco quickly checked that no one was coming and then darted out into the hall, his steps so light that he moved in almost complete silence. He put his back to the wall at the corridor's end and peaked carefully around the corner. This corridor was not as dark because the wall on the left opened up into a balcony that overlooked the central atrium of the Temple where, down below, it was still brightly lit, so it was easy to see that no one was coming. He turned and continued along to his destination, another door just like the one he had exited from, and with the knuckles of two fingers lightly knocked.

*tap* *tap tap tap* *tap-tap*

The door opened at the completion of the secret code and Marco found himself roughly jerked through the open doorway by the front of his Jedi robe, followed by the quiet hiss of the door closing again behind him.

"I know you do that every single time I come over here," Marco said quietly as Star let go of him, "but it still scares the daylights out of me when you yank me through the door like that."

"I just really don't want to get caught. Being yelled at isn't fun."

"Have you ever actually heard a Jedi yell at a youngling?"

"You know what I mean. They may not actually raise their voice, or say anything that actually sounds angry, but...you know...they're still yelling at you."

Marco sat down on the edge of Star's bed. "So...what's up? It's the middle of the night."

Star let out a deep sigh and sat down beside him. "I couldn't sleep."

"How come?"

She shook her head and looked at the floor. "I was just...thinking about..." Star fell silent.

Marco put a hand on her shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah...I know..." Star took a deep breath. "I...was thinking about our duel with Master Fisto today."

Marco noticed for the first time that Star was clutching her lightsaber in her hand. "You did great," he attempted to say encouragingly.

Star didn't acknowledge his compliment. She was staring hard at her lightsaber. Like all Jedi, she had very meticulously constructed it. It was made of polished durasteel that reflected every tiny glint of light in the dim room. At the head end below the emitter, the metal was ballooned into a perfect sphere, a third of which was sliced off flat. The flat face had set into it a yellow gemstone cut into the shape of a five-point star that Star had found being sold at a peddler's stand in the market district of Coruscant. A pair of bird-like wings cast from durasteel protruded from opposite sides just below the headpiece. Star had added on the entire top part of her lightsaber after an early training exercise in which the hilt had slipped through her clenched hand. The blade had badly burned her, and even though a night wearing a Bacta-filled glove had healed her scorched fingers, she added the wings and sphere at the top, built larger than her hand, to make sure it would not slip through her fingers ever again.

Finally she said, "When I struck at Master Fisto, I was aiming to behead him. I stopped because it wasn't a real fight, but..." She clutched the lightsaber to her chest. "...what if I hadn't?"

Marco was rather puzzled, not understanding what was bothering her. "...but you did."

"But what if I hadn't, Marco?!" Star exclaimed, still trying to keep her voice down. "What if it was a real fight? What if instead of Kit, what if it was, like, Asajj Ventress? And we were trying to prevent her from hurting innocent people. I...I would have had...to kill her. It...it's not in my nature to kill, Marco. I almost never thought about it before, but...Jedi...we say we're peacekeepers, but sometimes to keep the peace, we have to do some really...deadly...things. Cutting up battle droids is one thing, but what about...real flesh and blood beings. You can't take back a blaster shot, and you can't take back a stroke of your lightsaber, either."

"Well, you know they said Master Kenobi ki- er, defeated General Grevious today. From what I hear, the war is as good as over! You won't have to get involved, so you won't end up in that kind of situation now."

Star shook her head and stood up, slowly pacing back and forth across the room as she spoke. "But it's _not_ just this war. Jedi go on missions outside of war time, too. What if I got called on to protect a village from a gang of pirates? Or deal with some rogue bounty hunter? The galaxy is a dangerous place, there's still lots of ways I could end up having to take someone's life."

"Yeah...yeah, you have a point. Jedi aren't supposed to aim to kill, we're supposed to try to find a non-deadly way to resolve conflict, but...yeah...sometimes it does come to...that." Marco thought for a moment. "But being a Jedi means that you have to put the safety and well-being of others above your own feelings."

Star sank back down beside her best friend again. "I just don't know if I can do that. Someday, at some point, I'm going to be responsible for protecting others, and if I have to kill someone in order to do that...even if it was the most despicable and evil being who ever lived...I just don't know that I could do it."

The room fell eerily quiet. For several moments, Star tried to bring herself to say the words she knew Marco did not want to hear, but her vocal chords refused to utter a sound.

Marco broke the silence. "You have to leave, don't you?"

"...yes. This just...isn't the life for me."

To her surprise, the next occurrence was not Marco begging her to reconsider. Instead, Marco's arm draped across her shoulders and he pulled her into a hug.

"Okay," he said. "Then we'll go." Star looked at him and was met with Marco's ever-reassuring smile. "Together."

* * *

His head covered by the hood of his Jedi robe, lightsaber at the ready in his hand, Anakin Skywalker marched up the steps of the Jedi Temple's main entry way, followed by the entirety of the 501st legion, marching in perfect synchronization.

There was no more light in his eyes. Ordered by Chancellor Palpatine to execute every Jedi at the Temple, urged on by his loyalty to his new master, Anakin felt only hatred, and he saw only blood.

"Do what must be done, Lord Vader," Palpatine had said.

_I will,_ Anakin thought._ The Jedi have betrayed the Republic. They are enemies of the state. _He repeated the reasons for his mission over in his head as if needing to remind and convince himself that what he was doing was right. _I will make sure not even one will escape. They will all perish for what they have done._

Two Temple Guards flanked the entrance to the Temple, standing at attention, not even flinching at the sight of Anakin Skywalker approaching. They had no reason to suspect anything was out of the ordinary...

...Even if he did seem to be leading an awful lot of clone troopers.

Anakin ignited his lightsaber and commanded his troops. "Open fire."

* * *

"Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that. I said I would, didn't I? In fact..." Marco looked into Star's eyes. "Let's leave right now. Right this second."

Star pulled herself away from Marco's arm and frowned at him. "Really? Right now? What...what would we even do?"

"We'll go to the closest spaceport, use our Jedi credentials to hitch a ride on the next shuttle off of Coruscant. Doesn't even matter where we go. When we get there, we'll ditch any evidence that we're Jedi, and figure it out from there. Maybe we can get a job as an extra set of hands on a freighter or something."

Star didn't even know what to say. "But...but...you...you're really ready to leave just like that? I know you said you'd come with me, but it doesn't have to be right this second. We could wait a couple days or a week. Don't you even want to see Master Fisto one more time?"

"Star, all that matters to me is that you and I are together. It doesn't matter if that's as Jedi or living off the land on Dagobah. Which sounds horrible, by the way, but if that's what you want to do, we'll do it."

Star giggled.

"Besides," Marco said, pulling Star to him again. "The sooner we renounce our affiliation with the Jedi Order, the sooner doing _this_ won't get us into trouble." He drew in Star towards him and kissed her on the mouth, reveling in the soft, warm sensation of her lips against his. He wished it could go on forever and ever, but someone was calling his name.

"Marco? Marrrrrco? MARCO!"

He jumped. "Huh, what?"

Star was staring at him, visibly confused. "I said 'Don't you even want to see Master Fisto one more time?'"

Marco blushed. He hadn't even realized he had drifted into a fantasy. He was glad the room was so dark. Perhaps Star wouldn't notice that his cheeks were as red as Tatooine's suns. "Oh, yeah, I mean-"

Something caught Marco's attention before he could finish his thought; a muffled noise pricked at his ears.

Catching the look of confusion on his face, Star asked, "What's wrong?"

"Do you hear that?"

Star listened carefully. "It kinda sounds...like blaster fire."

"Yeah...and..." Marco's eyes widened. "And screams."

They quickly jumped off the bed and hurried to the door. Star pressed the button on the activation panel on the wall and the door slid open.

Over the edge of the balcony in front of them, the two Padawans could see that the interior of the Jedi Temple was in chaos. Clone Troopers fought in small groups everywhere they looked, firing upon every Jedi Knight and Padawan in the Temple. The corpses of Clones and Jedi alike lay where they fell, and there were more piling up by the second.

Far below, Anakin Skywalker was engaged in lightsaber combat with a Rodian Jedi Knight who was clearly outmatched. A few short moments later and the Rodian fell, impaled by Anakin's blade.

For a moment, Marco and Star stood shocked, unable to process what was happening. Then, moving slowly to avoid attracting any attention, Star pressed the button again and closed the door. When the room was once again sealed, Marco and Star looked at each other...

...and they screamed.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"What in the galaxy is happening?!" Marco cried.

"I don't know! Why are our own troops attacking us?!"

"I don't know! Why does Master Skywalker look like he's _helping them_?!"

"I don't know! But we need to stop yelling or they're gonna find us in h-"

_"Hey, I heard voices. They're coming from in here."_

They both froze at the sound of the slightly electronic voices outside.

_"Must be some Jedi hiding in there. I'll open the door. Prepare to fire."_

Star's lightsaber was still in her hand. Moving as fast as she could, she shoved Marco out of the way, ignited the emerald blade, and slashed at the door controls, carving a sizable gash into the wall.

_"The door won't open. They must have disabled the electrical panel."_

Star extinguished her lightsaber. "That should buy us a little time. Marco, what are we going to do?!"

"I don't know, but we gotta get out of here!"

"How?! There's so many troopers out there, we'll never be able to fight our way out!"

"Yeah," Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Especially since I, uh...don't have my lightsaber."

"What do you mean you don't have your lightsaber?!" Star cried. "You never go anywhere without it, and you don't have it _now?!_"

"Hey, you hailed me on the comm while I was sleeping, and I don't sleep with it on my belt! That's just asking for a severed limb. Look, we can discuss this some other time. How are we gonna get out of here? Is there an air vent we can crawl through or something?"

"You mean this?" Star pointed to the vent on the wall, too small to even put a leg into.

"Okay, that's clearly not an option. Why doesn't this room have a window we could climb out of?"

Star looked at the lightsaber in her hand again. "Well...I have always wanted a room with a view." The blade lit up the room with its emerald glow as Star ignited it.

Marco raised his eyebrows. "That...that'll work."

Star stepped to the room's exterior wall and plunged the blade in all the way up to the hilt. The wall was nearly half a meter thick, so cutting through it required some effort. It took nearly a minute for Star to carve out a section of the wall as high as she was tall and two meters long. When she finished cutting, she extinguished her lightsaber, clipped it to her belt, and raised her hands and closed her eyes, focusing on the wall with the Force.

"Wait!" Marco said. "Don't push it out!"

"Uh, how else are we supposed to escape?"

"We don't want to attract attention from anyone outside, and a big chunk of the wall crashing to the ground from a couple hundred feet up is probably a pretty good way to do that."

"Good point."

_"I brought the charges."_

_"Good. Attach them to the door. If we can't open it, we'll just blow the door off!"_

"Did they just say-?"

"They sure did," Star said, cutting Marco off. She pointed towards her bed. "Move over there, I have an idea."

Marco stepped out of the way. Focusing hard, Star used the Force to pull the freed section of the wall into the room. It floated upright through the air across the floor, and Star dropped it in front of the door, leaning against the wall on either side of the doorway. The room became a bit brighter, illuminated by the lights of the many surrounding buildings now shining through the makeshift window.

_"Charges are set. Detonate on my mark."_

Marco clenched his teeth, nervous. "Star...?"

She took him by the hand and pulled him into the corner at the foot of her bed. They crouched down and huddled together. Marco threw his arms around her and held her close. Star held him back just as tightly. Even though blocking the door with the section of the wall was her idea and she was fairly confident in her plan, she was still worried.

_Should I just tell her now?_ Marco thought. _What if these are our last few seconds together before we're both executed? I don't want to die without her knowing. _"Hey, Star?" She met his eyes. "I-"

"_Detonate!"_

There was a loud *BANG* as the charges exploded. On the other side, the door buckled, but, braced by the section of stone wall behind it, it did not give.

_"They must have it braced somehow. We'll have to cut through it."_

Star and Marco slowly stood up, their arms still around each other. "Hopefully that buys us enough time to figure out a way out of here," said Star.

"Uh, yeah, right," Marco stuttered, his mind still clinging to the words he had been about to say.

Letting go of each other, they rushed to the gaping hole in the wall, looking around for an escape route.

"Any ideas, Marco?"

"Hmm..." Marco looked straight down to the Temple's base. Far below, he could see the massive opening that led into the hanger. "Well, we are directly above the hanger. Maybe we can carefully climb down and-"

He stopped mid-sentence at the sound of an LAAT/i gunship approaching. He and Star watched as it swooped in, slowed to a hover a hundred meters out from the hanger entrance, and fired a salvo of missiles into the hanger. The sounds of multiple explosions reached their ears as the hanger spat fire from within.

Marco slouched over, feeling defeated. "Orrrr...maybe not."

"Yeah, maybe not..." Star looked toward the gunship still hovering down below. "What about the gunship?"

Marco's brow furrowed. "What_ about_ the gunship?"

"We could highjack it."

"...How exactly?" Marco asked, holding up his hand awaiting an explanation.

Into his open hand, Star placed her lightsaber, and Marco's eyes to widened in surprise. "You take this. You're better with it than I am, anyway. Then you just jump to the gunship, take out the troopers on board, and then I'll jump down there with you."

Nervously, Marco looked to where the gunship hovered. Even though it was far below, it was still at least fifty meters out from where he stood on the edge of Star's new window. "Even if I use what little Force ability I have to launch myself, that's an awfully far jump...I don't think I can make it."

"Don't worry. I'll give you a boost with the Force from here when you jump."

Outside in the corridor, they heard the voices of clone troopers conversing. _"I got the plasma cutter."_

_"We'll have them in no time, now."_

They were running out of time and Marco didn't have any better ideas. "Alright. Let's give it a shot."

Star smiled at him. "Don't worry, it'll work."

Marco smiled back, and then glanced behind him. "Guess I'd better at least take a running start." He backed up to the wall opposite the gaping hole while Star got into position, prepared to give him a push with the Force. "Ready?"

"Heh heh, not really, but let's do it."

"On the count of three," Star said. "One..."

Marco braced his right foot against the wall, prepared to push off for quick acceleration.

"Two..."

He slightly adjusted his grip on Star's lightsaber. The entire plan would fall apart if he dropped it.

"THREE!"

Marco bolted forward across the tiny room. He pushed off from the ledge as he jumped through the hole in the wall, focusing with the Force as much as he could to launch further than his own legs could push him. He sailed away from the Jedi Temple, and a second later he felt himself propelled forward through the air from behind as Star sent him flying forward with the Force.

As his forward momentum began to run out, he dropped toward the top of the Republic gunship. Forty meters away from touching down, he realized that he was still traveling awfully fast.

"UuuuuhhhhhhAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

He focused on the gunship as best he could, which was difficult to do while screaming in terror, and attempted to use the Force to slow himself down. He managed to decrease his velocity enough that he didn't break any bones, but he still crashed down onto the top of the gunship in the least graceful way possible. Marco fell forward and rolled as he bounced across the durasteel hull, coming to a rest on the far side just above the troop bay door.

"Ow..." he moaned as he picked himself up, certain he'd have some pretty serious bruises in at least a couple of places that would make sitting very uncomfortable.

_"Hey, what was that?"_ came that same electronically modified voice from inside the gunship.

_"Scanner shows something on top of the hull."_

_"Better check it out. Open the door."_

Marco quickly slid off the top of the gunship, grabbing onto the top edge of the starboard-side bay door with his fingers. The sealed door shifted out a few inches and then retracted backwards toward the rear of the gunship while Marco dangled by his fingertips. The port-side door opened at the same time.

The helmeted head of a clone trooper leaned out of the troop bay, looking toward the top of the hull. Then he noticed Marco hanging onto the door. Marco swung his right leg forward, the toe of his boot connecting with the bottom of the clone's helmet. The trooper was knocked off balance and tumbled out of the gunship, screaming as he plummeted toward the ground.

Seeing his compatriot knocked out of the gunship, a second clone popped out of the troop bay, this one with his blaster at the ready. Marco let go of the door with his right hand, the hand that was still clutching Star's lightsaber, and ignited it as the clone fired at him. He deflected the blaster bolt, and then a second, and then a third. The fourth shot ricocheted off the lightsaber's blade directly back at the clone trooper who had fired it, striking him in the chest and sending him flying out of the gunship after his brother.

"Two down," Marco said to himself. He switched off the lightsaber and quickly climbed up off of the door.

_"There's a Jedi outside!"_ one of the other troopers inside the gunship cried. _"Don't let him escape!"_

The four remaining clones drew their weapons and hurried to the starboard side door, but when they looked out, there was nothing there.

_"He's gone!"_ one trooper yelled.

Another said _"He may be trying to trick us! Close the doors!"_

"Oh, don't bother," came a voice from behind them as the doors slid shut.

The clone troopers whirled around to find Marco standing on the opposite side of the troop bay. He smirked, feeling rather proud of himself. "I'm already here."

And the troop bay was lit up by a green glow as Marco ignited Star's lightsaber.

* * *

From high above in her bedroom, Star watched through her hole in the wall as Marco dove inside the LAAT/i gunship just before the doors to the troop bay slid closed. Through the vents in the doors, she could see a green glow emanating from within. She grit her teeth anxiously.

_Force be with him... _she thought. _Please be careful, Marco._

Star watched as the green light flashed around inside the troop bay as Marco fought the clone troopers inside. There was nothing she could do but hope that he was okay and wait.

_"We're almost through,"_ came a voice from the hallway. Star looked back and saw the sparks from a plasma cutter eating through the piece of the wall she had propped against the door.

_Be careful, but hurry up, Marco!_

The green light abruptly vanished. For a moment, nothing happened. Each second that passed felt to Star like an eternity as she waited.

And then the cockpit canopy flew open and the pilot launched out into the air before falling out of sight. A second later, the canopy closed again and troop bay doors opened. Star smiled as Marco's head popped out. He had her lightsaber in his outstretched hand and ignited it, waving it back and forth to signal to her.

_"There! We're through!"_

Star watched as her makeshift barricade blew apart in a cloud of dust. She could see the helmeted figures of several clone troopers through the haze raising their blaster rifles to aim at her.

_No time to wait for Marco to come to me! _With no time to lose, Star leaped out the window, pushing off from the ledge with her foot and using the Force to propel herself forward. She plummeted toward the gunship below, falling through the night air.

"Oh, boy!" Star realized that, despite her massive Force-launch from her bedroom, she was going to come up a meter or two short of touching down on the gunship.

* * *

"MARCOOOOO!"

Marco watched his best friend dropping like a rock from high above, heard her yell his name, and made the connection: she wasn't going to land on the gunship.

His heart started beating so hard and fast that it felt like it might break through his rib cage.

_I'll never be able to stop her fall with the Force, _Marco thought. _Maybe I can just pull her close enough to grab her hand...?_

With no time to lose, he clipped Star's lightsaber to his belt and grabbed the handhold above his head with his left hand. He leaned out of the troop bay as far as he could, his right hand outstretched, and closed his eyes, concentrating on Star with all the panicked focus he could muster.

* * *

Star could see Marco reaching out his hand to her. _How does he expect me to be able to reach- am I getting closer?_

Marco no longer seemed quite so far away. Star stretched out her hand, hoping that she'd be able to grab Marco's hand before she fell past.

The distance between them shrank and then vanished. Marco and Star both grabbed for each other's hand and successfully took hold, but Star was falling so fast that her momentum jerked Marco's left hand free from where he was holding onto the handle inside the troop bay.

"GAH-" he cried as he fell forward. Marco hit the floor with a loud crash. Over the sound of the collision with the floor, he heard another sound. Something popped, and he felt it in his shoulder.

Now he lay on his side, his right arm and head outside of the gunship, Star dangling precariously several hundred feet in the air as she desperately clung to Marco's arm.

"AAARRRGH!" Marco yelled. "My arm! Agghhhhh!"

"Marco!" Star called up to him. "Are you okay?"

"No, I am definitely not!" He groaned in pain, struggling to hold Star. "I think my shoulder is dislocated! I can't pull you up! You're gonna have to climb!"

Star's arm burned in pain, too, both from the jolt of the stop sudden stop and the difficultly of supporting her entire weight solely by her right arm. She stretched out her free arm as high as she could and came up just a few centimeters short of being able to grab onto the ledge at the edge of the troop bay.

"Marco," she gasped. "I can almost reach it! Can you pull me up at all?"

"Rrrrrrrr," Marco growled through his gnashed teeth as he tried not to scream in pain. "I'll try!"

He kicked his feet over closer to the bulkhead at the head end of the troop bay and found the edge of the opening into the cockpit with the tops of his boots. Pulling against the edge of the bulkhead with all of the strength he could muster, Marco slowly slid himself further into the gunship's troop bay by his feet, lifting Star higher in tiny increments.

Star stretched out her arm as far as she could reach. Her fingertips grazed the metal hull at the edge of the troop bay. "I'm...almost...there!"

With one last Herculean effort, Marco pulled himself backwards enough that Star could grab onto the ledge. She let go of his hand, and with both arms now able to assist her, she pulled herself up and crawled into the gunship. Without even rising from her hands and knees, she quickly pushed Marco away from the edge, then helped him up to a sitting position against the bulkhead and wrapped him in a hug. He could not hug her back; both of his arms dangled at his sides. For a moment, they sat quietly, both panting hard to catch their breath. Then Star released him.

"Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"This was a really stupid plan."

Marco frowned, confused. "Why do you say that? Other than my shoulder getting dislocated, I thought it went off without a hitch."

"Oh, there's a hitch, there's a biiiig 'ol hitch."

"What?"

Star gestured to the cockpit. "Do you know how to fly?"

Marco's eyes went wide. "I thought you did."

Star slowly shook her head. "Noooooooo..."

Marco looked toward the cockpit again. "Yeah, that could be a problem."

**More coming soon! Don't forget to review!**


	4. Starcrashed

**In case you didn't see it, the title of this chapter is "Starcrashed." Get it? Like "Starcrushed" except I changed the "u" to an "a"? I even got show references worked into the chapter titles. **

**Yeah, you guys probably got that. **

"So, uh...what do we do now?" Marco asked.

"Uhhhh..." Star rubbed her temple in thought. She looked toward the cockpit, and then at Marco. "Still can't move your arm, huh?"

"Nope."

She looked at the cockpit again. "Well...I guess I could try to fly this thing." Star stood up and stepped past Marco, squeezing up and into the pilot's seat.

Bracing his back against the bulkhead, Marco staggered to his feet. He hung onto the back of the pilot's seat, looking over Star's shoulder out the forward view screen. "You sure about this?"

Star placed her hands on the control yoke. "All we gotta do is get away from the Temple and land somewhere. How hard could it be?"

The gunship was still pointed toward the smoldering hanger of the Jedi Temple. Star twisted the control yoke to the right with the intention of rotating away from the Temple. The gunship spun on its center axis in the direction Star expected, but it did so far too quickly. "Whoa!" It spun much too far, almost all the way around again, and Star tried to stop the spin by abruptly turning the yoke back to the left, accidentally pulling it slightly towards her as she did, causing the nose of the gunship to lift up as it spun.

Marco clung to the back of the pilot's seat with his good arm as the ship tilted backwards. "StaaaaAAAAAARRRRRR!" he yelled as he lost his grip and fell to the rear of the troop bay, crashing into the rear bulkhead.

Star wrestled with the control yoke, desperately trying to stop the spin and level the gunship out again. "Very hard! Very hard is how hard it could be!"

Down in the troop bay, Marco struggled to pick himself up, which was not easy with the gunship bucking and spinning like a wild rancor. He braced himself with both hands against the rear bulkhead-

_Oh, hey, I can move my other arm. I landed right on my shoulder when I fell back here, it must have to popped back in._

He braced himself with both hands against the rear bulkhead, slowly stood up, and grabbed on to one of the handholds overhead. "Star!" he yelled. "You've got to straighten this thing out! Someone is gonna see us!"

"I am trying, Marco! I know someone is gonna see us!"

* * *

Anakin Skywalker stood on a balcony looking over the glittering Coruscanti skyline on the south side of the smoking Jedi Temple.

"_General Skywalker_." Anakin turned at the sound of the Clone Commander's voice. _"We've conducted a sweep of the entire Temple. There are no Jedi left inside."_

"Very good, Commander. Now have your men..." Anakin's eye caught something moving in the distance behind the Clone. He looked past the Commander and spotted an LAAT/i gunship jerking around erratically in the air. "What is going on over there?" he asked calmly, pointing to the gunship.

The Clone Commander looked toward it. "I have no idea, sir. Should I hail them on the comm channel?"

Anakin held out his hand. "Give me the commlink." The Commander placed the device in Anakin's hand as the gunship slowly began to level out.

* * *

The gunship stopped spinning and Star finally was able to level it out. "There we go! Got it!" Then she called back to her friend, "Are you okay, Marco?"

He appeared behind he pilot's seat a moment later, stretching his arm. "Yeah, I'm fine. Actually better than before. I landed on my shoulder and I think it popped it back into the socket."

"Oh, that's-"

_"Gunship two-niner-zero, this is General Skywalker. What in the world are you doing?"_

Both Padawans froze. "Someone saw us." Star grabbed for the comm receiver and held it out toward Marco. "Marco! Speak!"

"What?! Me?! Why not you?"

"Because, Marco, Clones are boys and I am not."

"Yeah, okay, fair point." He grabbed the receiver, took a deep breath, and then spoke, trying to make his voice as deep as possible. "Uh, yes, General Skywalker, sir. We had a slight mechanical failure but we're okay here now. We're all fine." He looked at Star, who frantically gestured for him to say something else. "H-how are you?" he asked.

Star smacked her forehead hard enough to leave a red mark.

* * *

Anakin handed the commlink back to the Clone Commander. "That gunship has been hijacked by Jedi trying to escape the Temple. Blow it up."

The Commander changed the frequency and spoke into the commlink. _"There's a gunship just outside of the hanger. Shoot it down."_

The reply was an enthusiastic _"Yes, Sir!"_

* * *

"Why aren't they responding?" Marco wondered aloud.

"Probably because they weren't fooled by your dumb impersonation of a clone trooper." Star was busily scanning the controls, trying to figure out the function of every toggle and lever on the control panel.

"Star..." Marco could see an AT-TE walker down below on the ground swiveling its gun around toward them.

"I mean, I know you don't interact with them much, but-"

"Star." The AT-TE had brought its huge main cannon to bear on them.

"-I think _I _could could have done a better job imitating-"

"Star!"

"What, Marco?" she asked, annoyed at being interrupted.

Marco frantically pointed out the forward viewport. "They're aiming at us!"

A huge bolt of blue energy burst from the walker's cannon.

"ANDNOWTHEY'REFIRINGATUS!"

Acting purely on instinct, Star hauled back hard on the control yoke and shoved the throttle to full power. The gunship's nose turned skyward and the craft rocketed straight up, the shot from the AT-TE passing harmlessly underneath as Marco tumbled into the stern end for a second time.

"WhoaaaAAAAHHHHH-OOF!"

Thrown back into the seat by the g-forces brought on by the rapid acceleration, it took Star a fair amount of effort to push the yoke forward to a more neutral position and slow their momentum. Trying to keep her movements slow and smooth to avoid losing control again, Star halted the gunship's rapid accent, bringing the nose down and leveling out the craft once again.

Rubbing his sore shoulder, Marco walked back up from the gunship's tail end for a second time.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Star said to him.

Marco winced as his rotated his shoulder around in its joint. "Well, if my shoulder wasn't reset from the last fall, it's definitely back in now." He shook the cobwebs out of his head and put his hand on the back of the pilot's seat. Star looked at him, smiling, feeling rather pleased with herself. "Please don't do that again."

"No promises."

There was a muffled *bang*. Star looked down. Another bolt of blue energy was racing up towards them. She carefully twisted the control yoke to move out of the way. Another shot came, and then another. Star dodged them both.

"Hey, this is kinda fun!"

"Can we please get out of range?" Marco asked, worried.

"Relax, Marco," Star said confidently. "I'm getting the hang of this whole piloting thing. I got this!"

She shifted the gunship to port to avoid one shot...and moved directly into the path of another. The bolt struck the port side atmospheric stabilizer and exploded, the stabilizer disappearing from the gunship. Marco was knocked off his feet by the tremors.

Star blinked in surprise. "Okay, I am not too proud to admit when I am wrong and I clearly do not got this!"

The various readout screens on the control panel began flashing red, accompanied by a blaring warning alarm. The gunship listed as the port side engine began to shut down, having been pierced by a large chunk of debris from the shredded atmospheric stabilizer. Star desperately twisted the control yoke in an attempt to counter the lack of one engine.

"We gotta get out of here!" Marco yelled as he stumbled trying to pick himself up off the floor yet again. A bolt of energy streaked past the viewport, barely missing the gunship's nose. "We're a sitting duck!"

Star gritted her teeth and shoved the throttle forward against its stop. "I'm on it!" She wrestled with the yoke as the missing port stabilizer and full-power starboard engine threatened to send the gunship into a lateral spin. "Ohhhh, boy, too much power!" Star eased the throttle back until she was able to maintain control over the crippled gunship. She pointed the ship away from the Jedi Temple hoping to get out of range of the AT-TE's on the ground.

Marco opened the troop bay doors and looked back, holding himself steady with one of the overhead handholds. The blue energy bolts were still streaking toward them across the sky. Each shot fired from the walkers' canons lost accuracy, coming further and further away from striking the teetering gunship.

"You're doing great, Star!" Marco yelled over the howling wind. "We're almost out of range!"

The girl with no prior piloting experience up in the cockpit did not dare sacrifice the concentration required to respond. Star's teeth were clenched together, wrenching the control yoke back and forth with a white-knuckled grip. It took every ounce of focus that Star possessed to keep the teetering gunship flying in a straight line away from the Jedi Temple.

Marco closed the bay doors again and stumbled across the constantly moving floor back up to the cockpit.

"I think we're in the clear, Star!" Marco said excitedly.

"That's great!" Star gasped through her clenched teeth. "Now what do we do?"

"Well, uh...I guess-"

Marco was cut off by a deafening an explosion somewhere behind them that caused the gunship to shudder. More alarms started blaring. "What in the galaxy was that?!"

Another LAAT/i gunship whizzed by overhead. "That!" Star said.

The other gunship had fired a rocket into the remaining engine of the damaged gunship.

Suddenly, the buildings of Coruscant were visible in the windscreen as the nose of the gunship sank. "Hang on, Marco!" Star yelled as she hauled back on the yoke as hard as she could. "We're going down!"

The gunship rocked side-to-side as it fell from several thousand feet up. Star continued to fight with the controls, trying to keep the craft upright and prevent it from going into a nose dive.

"What's your plan?" Marco yelled over the warning alarms.

"Uhhhh..." Star jerked the yoke hard to starboard to avoid a mid-air collision with an air speeder. "Aim for something soft?"

"Something soft?! We're not on Felucia! There's nothing soft to aim for!"

Marco's legs suddenly felt heat from an unknown source. He looked back into the troop bay where various wiring and power conduits along the bulkheads were ablaze.

"Oh, that's good."

"What?" Star asked.

"We're also on fire."

"Greaaaaaaaat."

They passed below one thousand feet. Star jolted the sluggish controls to port to skirt around the side of a skyscraper.

"There!" Star cried. "There's a park!"

Marco looked past her out the viewscreen. Ahead was the only greenery around for miles: a park built on top of the roofs of the buildings below it, nestled in the center of taller surrounding buildings. "Hey, it's got a big water fountain! Aim for that!"

"I'll do the best I can!" Star swung the still falling gunship around and did the best she could to line up their trajectory with the park. "Here we go! Hang on!"

Marco clung to the back of the pilot seat. The gunship finally lost what little altitude it had left, Star bracing her feet against the control panel to pull the yoke back as hard as she could so that the touchdown would be as gentle as possible. Even so, the gunship slammed into the ground, it's hull tearing a deep gash into the duracrete walkways and grassy plots in between as its momentum carried it along. Despite how tightly he clung to the seat back, Marco was thrown off his feet for the umpteenth time when the gunship made contact with the ground.

"Gah! Oof! Argh!" he yelped as he was thrown around in the flaming troop bay.

The gunship crashed into the elaborate fountain in the center of the park, and in the meter-deep water it came to rest. Fortunately for Marco, the jets that shot water into the air to create various visual spectacles blasted the flaming gunship with water, rapidly extinguishing the flames.

Star put a hand to her aching head. She hadn't hit it on anything, but the jolt her body had taken when the gunship slammed into the ground had jarred her brain and given her a throbbing headache. "Marco?" she called. "Are you okay back there?"

"Um...sorta?"

Standing up from the pilot's seat, Star staggered back to the troop bay, still holding her head. "Sorta?"

"Well, the fountain put out the fire before it hand a chance to do anything more than singe my clothes..."

Star stepped into a puddle of water. The whole interior of the troop bay was soaking wet. Water from the fountain was raining down into the gunship from a large hole in the top of the hull where the starboard side engine had once been. With the airtight troop bay doors closed, the water was trapped inside and was filling up the interior of the gunship. She could see Marco sitting with his back up against the bulkhead, soaked to the skin. She sloshed her way over to him as he finished speaking.

"...but when we hit the ground, I was holding onto the back of your seat and, well..." He looked at his right arm. "...my shoulder dislocated again."

For a second Star just stared at him, unsure what to say. Then she burst out laughing.

"Star?" Marco said, very confused. "What...what's so funny?"

Star leaned against the bulkhead beside Marco as she continued cracking up, sliding down until she was sitting in the ankle-deep water beside him, slowly becoming soaked herself as more water from the fountain rained down on them.

"Star?"

Struggling to stifle her laughter, Star said, "I'm sorry, Marco...it's just so...ridiculous! All the things we've been through in just the last hour or two and you managed to get your shoulder dislocated, accidentally get it popped back in, and then get it dislocated a second time! I mean, what are the odds?!" Having calmed down, she rested her head on Marco's right shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. It is definitely, like _definitely_ not the time to laugh...but...I honestly don't know what else to do right now." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

For a moment they sat in silence, the only sound coming from the water trickling down the sides of the bulkhead and splashing onto the floor. They were now both completely drenched, their Jedi robes turned a darker tan and clinging to their skin, and Star's long blonde hair matted to her head and back.

Any other time, Marco would have been very happy to sit and hold his best friend's hand for as long as she wanted to. But this was not the time to linger, and after enjoying the closeness for a minute, he knew he had to voice such concerns.

"Star..."

She looked at him.

"They can probably track this gunship," Marco said slowly. "We need to get away from here before they come to check and make sure we're dead."

"Oh...yeah, right...good idea." Still holding Marco's hand, Star stood up and attempted to help Marco to his feet.

"Ow ow Ow!" He yelped. "That's my dislocated arm!"

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry," she said, letting go of his hand. His arm dropped lifelessly to the floor. "Hold on, I have an idea. Don't move." She took a step back, held up her hands, and closed her eyes.

Marco furrowed his brow, confused as to what her plan was. "What exactly are you doING AAAHHHHHHHH!" He suddenly felt like he was being crushed laterally. Star was using the Force to squeeze both of his shoulders together.

"STAR! STOP! AAARRRGH-!" There was a barely audible *pop!* and suddenly Marco felt better.

Star let her arms fall back to her sides. "Did it work?"

Marco stretched his right arm out. He could move it once more. "Well...it felt like I was being squished, but I can move my arm again, so...yeah, it worked." He smiled at her. "Thanks, Star."

She held out a hand to him and when he took it, she hauled him to his feet, returning the friendly grin. "You're welcome. Now c'mon." She smacked the button that opened the bay doors. A decent amount of the water on the floor drained out and back into the fountain as the doors slid open, revealing the buildings that surrounded the park. "Let's get a move on."

They hopped down into the fountain, awkwardly trudged through the deep water to the edge, climbed out, and crossed the deserted park onto a side alley. It was still the wee hours of the morning and sun was not up yet, so the streets were mostly empty of foot traffic. A soft squish from their waterlogged boots accompanied every step as they hurried along.

"Where exactly are we going?" Star asked.

"I don't know," Marco replied. "I just picked a direction and started walking. Anywhere is a better place to be than by that gunship."

"Okay, hold on." Star stepped in front of him and stopped, forcing him to stop walking buy placing a hand on his chest. "Just stop for one second. We can't just wander around Coruscant until we run into a squad of clone troopers. We have to have some kind of a plan!"

Marco took hold of her hand and started walking again, towing her along. "Then let's come up with a plan while we work on getting as far away from here as we possibly can."

Star took two quick steps to catch up fell in alongside her best friend. "Okay, so...plan?"

"Hey, you're the one who stopped and said we needed a plan."

Star looked around, hoping for some inspiration of some kind, but saw nothing. "Well...I guess we probably should try to get off of Coruscant. If the clones are trying to kill all the Jedi for some reason-"

"Yeah, what's that even about?" Marco interrupted.

"-There's far too many of them here to avoid them for long. We should get off the planet and find somewhere to lay low until we figure out what's going on, probably somewhere in the outer rim."

"Okay, so how do we do that?"

"We'll buy tickets on a transport off-world like two normal people. Do you have any money?"

Marco reached into his pocket and produced a handful of credit chips. "I have 650 credits."

Star stopped walking again. "Wait a second. You don't sleep with your lightsaber on your belt, but you do sleep with 650 credits in your pocket?"

"650 credits is not going to cut me in half if I roll over onto my stomach," Marco quipped. "I don't think that this is going to be enough to buy two tickets off of this rock, though, even on the cheapest transport."

They reached the end of the alley and turned right onto a walkway beside a lane between the buildings where speeders raced in both directions at their level. The chasm between the buildings was so deep they would not have been able to see the bottom if they had looked.

"Maybe we can ask my Aunt?"

"Senator Eclipsa?"

"Yeah. She'd loan us some money. She loves me."

"Okay. Where does she live? Maybe we can get an air taxi."

Star bit her lip nervously. "Well, um...we won't find her at home."

"...why?"

"Aunt Eclipsa is such a workaholic, she practically never leaves her office at night when the Senate is in session. Her office has a private refresher, so she just showers and such there..."

Marco's heart skipped a beat. "So you're telling me...we have to go...to the Galactic Senate building."

"Uh-Huh."

"A place that is literally crawling with Clone Troopers around the clock."

"Uh-Huh."

"Can't we hail her on the comm and ask her to meet us somewhere?"

"Do you have a commlink?"

"...no."

"Neither do I! So I guess we'll just have to go there."

"Great."

Suddenly, Star spotted a pair of Clone Troopers appearing from a side street ahead. She shoved Marco into an alley, nearly knocking him to ground. The only reason he didn't fall was because they were still holding hands, neither having realized until now that they had never let go.

"What was that for?" Marco asked. Having now noticed that they were still holding hands, he let go out of embarrassment.

"Clones up ahead," she said, peaking around the corner. "Had to get out of sight before they saw us."

"Oh. Good reaction time."

"Thank you."

As they stood quietly waiting until the coast was clear, Marco looked down at his soaked Jedi robe. He looked at Star, too. He couldn't help but think that they both stuck out like a sore thumb. When the troopers had moved on, they left their hiding place and continued down the street.

"If we're going to the Senate building," Marco said slowly, "it probably isn't a good idea to just walk in the front door dressed like this."

Star kicked at a stone mid-step. "Yeahhhh, probably not."

Marco reached into his pocket and extracted his credits. "Well...we have 650 credits to work with. If we're careful, we can probably get an air taxi to somewhere that's open this time of night where we can make a costume change, buy some new clothes, and still have enough to get a second air taxi to the Senate building. And if we hurry, we can probably get there before the sun comes up." He looked at Star to his left, only to find that she wasn't there. "Star?"

"TAXI!"

Star was standing at the edge of the walkway, waving her hand to a dark blue air speeder that was slowing to a stop where she stood.

"Come on, Marco!" she exclaimed as she opened the rear door. "No time to waste!"

Marco quickly dove in beside her and closed the door.

"Where to?" asked the male Nimbanel cabbie.

"Can you take us somewhere where we can buy clothes this time of night?" Star asked.

"What kind of clothes?"

"Cheap ones," Marco said simply.

"But not sketchy," Star added. "Cheap, but, like, you know...decent."

The cabbie snapped his fingers. "I know just the place. Hang on."

He piloted the speeder back into the flow of traffic just as an LAAT/i gunship flew overhead. Marco and Star looked at each other nervously.

"So...you two Jedi?" asked the cabbie.

"We ar-oop!" Star was cut off as Marco elbowed her in the ribs. "Uh, no! No no no no, definitely not."

"You positive? You sure match their fashion sense, and I'm pretty sure you, young man," he said as he pointed to Marco's reflection in the rear view mirror, "have a lightsaber on your belt."

Both Padawans froze. Marco had completely forgotten that he still had Star's lightsaber and that it was in plain view for anyone to see.

"Oh, what, this thing?" he said nervously, holding it up. "This isn't a lightsaber, it's-it's-it's a, uh, uh, uh-"

Star returned his earlier jab to the ribs.

"-Magic wand!" he blurted out.

Star looked at him with wide eyes and mouthed _seriously?_ He just shrugged.

The cabbie laughed. "I don't blame ya'll for lying," he said, observing his passengers' sheepish looks in the backseat knowing they hadn't fooled him. "Not after what went down tonight."

Star and Marco gave each other a questioning look. "What, uh...what exactly did 'go down'?" Star asked.

"You don't know?" the cabbie asked as he turned into a different air lane and dropped down deeper into Coruscant's labyrinth of buildings toward the market district.

"No," his passengers chorused.

The cabbie nodded slowly. "The Chancellor issued Order 66."

Star and Marco waited for him to continue, but he did not. "...which is...?" Marco urged.

The cabbie turned again. "I guess the Chancellor had some kind of failsafe protocols in place for-" He threw both hands up. "-you know, whatever. Apparently a couple hours ago, a group of Jedi tried to stage a, uh, _coup d'état_, as it were, so he made the call and-" he swiped a finger across his throat. "Crrrrrt! All Jedi are to be executed on-site."

Star and Marco met each other's eyes in shock. For the rest of the ride, neither said a word.

Ten minutes later, the air taxi came to a gentle stop in front of a marketplace store front. A gentle light shone out through the front windows while an illuminated sign above the door proclaimed in Aurebesh letters "Lekmet's Place."

"Here we are," the cabbie announced.

"How much do I owe you?" Marco asked.

"Normal fare is 24 credits," the cabbie said. As Marco reached into his pocket, the cabbie added, "And for not ratting you two Jedi out to the Coruscant police or Republic Army, how about a measly 700 credits?" He rubbed his hands together greedily.

"700 credits?!" Marco yelled. "But I only have si-! ...two hundred."

The cabbie grinned evilly. "You know, kid, you are a real bad liar."

Star groaned. "We don't have time for this." She pushed Marco aside and looked the Nimbanel straight in the eyes. "You are happy to help us, free of charge," she said slowly, waving her hand in front of his face as she focused the Force on his mind.

"I am happy to help you, free of charge," the cabbie repeated.

"You never saw us tonight," she added.

"I never saw you tonight."

Star gave a curt satisfactory nod. "Let's go, Marco." And she roughly shoved him out of the cab.

As the air taxi sped away, Marco was struck with a thought. "Hey, wait a second. If you can mind trick the taxi driver into letting us go for free, why can't you just do the same to the ticket salesman at a spaceport to get us on a transport?"

"Because there was no one around to see me do it here, Marco. Spaceports are crowded, and I don't want anyone to see me Jedi-mind-tricking a ticket clerk."

"Oh, yeah, good point."

It was roughly fourteen steps where from where they stood to the front door of the clothing shop. After the sixth step, Marco put a hand on Star's shoulder and stopped walking. "I just had another thought."

"What now?"

"That guy said the clones were attacking because the Chancellor ordered all Jedi executed."

"Yeah?"

"So when we were back at the Temple, why was Master Skywalker fighting _with_ the clones instead of _against them_?"

Star felt a chill shoot up her spine. "I...don't...know..."

For a moment, they stared into each other's eyes, both lost in thought, each terrified at what Marco's realization could mean.

"Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"There's more to it than just what the cabbie said, isn't there?"

Marco swallowed hard. "I'd bet on it. Something doesn't add up."

Star took Marco's hand. "This is really bad. Like, really, really, really, really, really, _really_ bad."

Marco looked away. "Yeah...this is really bad."

**Chapter 5 coming soon! Don't forget, if you enjoy this story and want to see more, be sure to drop me a review and let me know. It really motivates me to keep writing, and to do it faster! **


	5. The Senate

**I know Eclipsa isn't Star's aunt, but I didn't feel like coming up with an explanation for how her sixth great-grandmother was still alive. It was just easier to make Eclipsa Moon's sister and move on. I always thought Eclipsa seemed more like a "cool aunt" anyway. **

Marco leaned against a display rack as he waited for Star to finish in the dressing room, his damp Jedi robe draped over his arm. He had selected a lightweight gray button-down short-sleeved shirt and a pair of plain black trousers. Nothing too noticeable; he wanted to attract as little attention to himself as possible. He had done his best to dry out his boots instead of replacing them, though, and had a fresh pair of socks. If there was one thing Marco absolutely couldn't stand, it was wet socks.

Something on the rack he was leaning against caught his eye. It was a medium-red garment that looked like some kind of cloak. He slid it off the rack and held it up. It was not long enough to be a cloak, only being waist long. It did have long sleeves and a hood, and the front was open, but it had strange metal teeth on either side of the opening.

"Excuse me," Marco said to the very bored human woman behind the counter, "What exactly is this?" He pointed to the teeth.

"Some new-fangled thing called a 'zipper.'"

"A zipper?" Marco let his Jedi robe drop to the floor, slid his arms into the sleeves of the garment and pulled the front together. At the bottom was a small tab that seemed to be affixed to one side of the teeth. It looked like the matching set of teeth on the other side would slide into it. Marco joined the two halves of the half-cloak and pulled the tab up. The garment was now securely fixed around him, and it was snug and cozy. The front had a pair of deep pockets, too.

"Oh, yeah. I am definitely getting this thing."

"What'd ya find there, Marco?"

Star's voice made Marco flinch in surprise. He hadn't heard her come up behind him. "Star!" He whirled around, but then froze. Star was holding onto her damp Jedi robe the same way he had, having traded it for a casual light blue sleeveless dress. She wore similarly colored leggings under it and a red belt was tied around her waist. A pair of fuzzy blue things covered the lower part of her legs and helped conceal the tops of her boots which, like Marco, was the only part of her Jedi outfit she had retained. Her long, blonde hair was still damp and somewhat frizzy, but she had a red headband fashioned to look like horns atop her head in an attempt to keep it somewhat under control.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly. "Normal everyday definitely-not-a-Jedi teenager?"

Her words barely registered in Marco's brain. _OH MY GOSH SHE'S SO CUTE! _"Uh, yeah, very, uh, very normal."

She smiled happily. "So what's that you're wearing?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Check it out, it's like a short cloak. It's really soft and cozy, and it's got this fancy thing on the front called a zipper." He moved the tab up and down to demonstrated.

Star leaned in for a closer look at this garment technology she had never before seen. "How...the heck...does it work?"

"Beats me! But I love it. I'm definitely getting it."

"Cool! I like it! So are we all set?"

"I think so. We just have to figure out..." Marco scooped up his Jedi robe from the floor and unfolded it, revealing Star's lightsaber nestled inside. "...what to do with this."

"Even more than our clothing, it makes us super-obviously Jedi," Star said. "As far as I'm concerned, we should just get rid of it."

"We're not getting rid of it. It's the only means of defense we have!"

Star rolled her eyes. "Fiiiiiiine. But we need a really good way of concealing it." Her eyes scanned the room, searching for something she could use to hide her lightsaber from observant passersby. On the back wall, she spotted what she was looking for.

"A-ha!" She darted over to a display section of accessories and selected a small purple bag on long, thin strap that she could wear over her shoulder. "Gimmie," she said, holding out her hand. Marco handed her the lightsaber and she dropped it into the bag before slinging it over her neck. "Well?" She struck a pose. "Completely unsuspecting, or what?"

Marco gazed at his best friend. "Perfect, Star. You look-" _completely normal and unsuspecting_ "-very cute."

She blinked. "What?"

Marco's heart started racing in panic. _I just did that backwards, didn't I?_

_Yes, yes you did. Way to go, genius. _

"Did...did you say I look cute?" Star asked when he didn't reply.

"Uh..." _Well, I can't take it back. _"Yeah, you do. Very, uh..." He swallowed hard. "Very cute."

A friendly smile met Marco in return. "Aw, thanks, Bestie."

Marco was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. He followed Star as she skipped up to the counter, excitedly thinking to herself _Oh my gosh, Marco thinks I'm cute!_

* * *

It took 213 of Marco's credits to pay for their new clothing. After ditching their Jedi robes in a garbage pile in the alley behind the store, they hailed another air taxi and climbed aboard.

"Evening, youngsters," an aging togruta male with a friendly smile asked. "Where can I take you?"

"The Republic Senate Building, please," Star requested.

The cabbie looked confused. "Really?"

"Mhm."

"...you're sure?"

"Yes! Please!"

"Ooooookay." And he started away.

Marco turned to Star. "Are you going to call your aunt and let her know we're coming?"

"We don't have commlinks, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Marco chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

Marco shook his head. "Nothing. Just...we are, like, so unprepared for this."

Star slid closer and unexpectedly took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "We have each other," she whispered. "That's all we need, isn't it?"

Marco smiled at her. "Yeah. It is."

"Awwwwww," the cabbie cooed as he looked at them in the rear view mirror. "Young love. You two are adorable."

Star and Marco slid as far apart on the rear seat as they could, both blushing dark red.

"We're, uh...actually just best friends," Marco stammered.

"Oh," the old togruta said with more than a little disappointment in his voice. "Well, that's nice, too. Nothing is more valuable than friendship, you know."

Star and Marco blushed harder. For the remainder of the ride, they remained silent.

* * *

A clone trooper held up a hand to signal that the air taxi should stop as it pulled up in front of the Senate building. The cabbie rolled down his window while Star motioned something to Marco in the backseat.

_"I'm sorry, sir,"_ the trooper said, "_This area is temporarily on lockdown. No one is permitted to disembark here." _

"Oh, uh, I didn't know. I'm sorry," apologized old togruta.

_"Move along, sir," _the clone said curtly, raising his blaster and aiming it at the cabbie.

The togruta raised his hands defensively. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm going!" And he quickly drove off.

When he was a good distance away, the cabbie spoke to his passengers. "Well, I'm sorry, kids. Looks like I'll have to drop you somewhere..." He glanced in his rear view mirror and found only an empty back seat.

"...else."

Thinking to himself that he must be crazy, he pulled out of traffic and found a place where he could park. He turned around and checked the back seat again, but sure enough, it was vacant.

Only it wasn't actually empty. The old cabbie found a 100 credit chip sitting on the seat cushion.

"How curious," he said to himself. "Somehow, they must have gotten where they were going after all."

* * *

"Ow! Star!"

"What?"

"You just kicked me in the face!"

"Then don't follow me so closely!"

"But I can't see anything and you have the light!"

"Marco, keep your voice down. Someone is gonna hear us."

As soon as the clone trooper had called out to their cab driver, Star devised a plan in a split second. The air taxi had stopped at the very edge of the landing platform, so she and Marco had climbed out the passenger side of the cab completely unnoticed. They hung onto the side of the ledge until the cab had disappeared and the clone troopers who had been standing nearby had wandered away. Then they climbed up onto the landing platform and ran to a grate where the Senate building's ventilation system exhausted into the air, hopping down inside and using the Force to replace the grate behind them before anyone could notice. Now they were squeezing through a narrow duct that led into the Senate building's main ventilation shafts, Star in the lead, holding her lightsaber carefully out in front of her as she crawled to guide their way with its emerald glow.

After what seemed like an eternity of shuffling along on their hands and knees, they found their path blocked by another vent. Star cut through it with her lightsaber and then they carefully climbed through, dropping out into a passage that was tall enough to stand up in. This was a passage that served as both a ventilation shaft and a maintenance conduit so that repair staff could move about the Senate building without disrupting the various goings on in the corridors.

"Which way?" Marco asked.

"Uhhh..." Star looked down the shaft in each direction, but the illumination of her lightsaber only stretched so far, and all she could see was darkness. "I guess this way. I know Aunt Eclipsa's office is on this side of the building," she said, pointing down the shaft to their right.

"Well, that's the only logic we have to work with," Marco said, "so let's just go with it. We'll figure it out as we go."

So Star led the way down the maintenance shaft. Four minutes later, they reached a place where the shaft made a sharp ninety degree turn. There was a door on each outer side of the corner. One had a small window, which Marco looked through into a room filled with tools and diagnostic equipment, spools of cable, and stacks of metal stock. "I guess this is the maintenance storage room."

The door on the opposite side of the corner turned out to be an elevator. "My aunt's office is on the fifth floor," Star said. "If we take this elevator up, we can stay out of sight."

"Sounds like a plan," Marco replied, pressing the call button. The door opened instantly, revealing a cramped elevator that was really only meant for one fully grown being at a time.

"Mm, cozy," Star quipped. "Good thing we-" She was about to say "like each other" but thought maybe she shouldn't. "-don't hate each other."

"Haha, right," Marco laughed nervously.

The elevator was lit by a dim lamp in the ceiling and the tight fit would make having a super-heated sword a major safety hazard, so Star switched off her lightsaber and stepped into the elevator car. Marco wedged himself in front and pressed the button for the fifth floor. When the door closed, it was a very tight squeeze. Fortunately, the ride was only a few seconds before the door opened again and its passengers literally spilled out into the corner of a different but identical-looking equally-as-pitch-dark maintenance conduit/ventilation shaft.

Star's lightsaber came back to life and allowed them to see once again. "Okay, fifth floor. Aunt Eclipsa's office is near the back the back of the building, so we should go this way," she said pointing down the corridor.

Marco said nothing. When she looked at him, he was staring vacantly into the abyss of the other corridor.

"Marco?"

He didn't acknowledge her.

"Marco!"

"I...I sense something..."

"That's real specific. Wait, you sense something? Like, with the Force?"

"Yeah..."

"You have literally never sensed anything through the Force before."

"I know...and that worries me. I don't know what it is, I just know..." He fell silent.

Star wasn't sure what to do, but she felt as though their time was wearing thin. "Come on, Marco, we have to go." She started slowly walking down the corridor, hoping that he would follow. He took two steps and then stopped, loudly saying, "We have to go up."

Star turned to face him. "...But Aunt Eclipsa's office is this way."

"I know, but...I feel like we really need to go to up."

"For what, though?" Star pressed.

"I have no idea. I just..." Marco threw his hands up in defeat. "...really think we need to see..."

Star looked into his eyes. They seemed to be pleading to her. She shook her head. "Marco, the only levels above us are the conference rooms and the Chancellor's office on the top floor."

Marco's eyes went wide. "That's where we have to go! The Chancellor's office!"

"The Chancellor's office? That is a wonderful idea, Marco!" Star quipped sarcastically. "Let's just go right on up to the office of the guy who ordered all Jedi be shot on sight! We'll just walk right up and knock on his door and say, 'Hey, there Palpy! We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd drop in for a spot of tea.'"

Marco glared. "Hey, you said it yourself, I don't ever feel a 'disturbance in the Force'-" He made quotation marks with his fingers. "-like every other Jedi has at some point, but I feel something now, so, whatever it is, it has to be really important."

Star sighed. "It's hard to argue with logic like that." She glanced down the shaft in the direction that her Aunt's office would be. "Alright, let's go up."

* * *

Star extinguished her lightsaber as Marco activated the door that led from the maintenance shaft into the storage closet of the Senate's top most floor. "Just be quiet," she said softly as they squeezed between a floor buffer and the wall, "We don't know if he's up here or not."

"I know," Marco whispered back. He opened the door to the closet and checked to make sure the coast was clear. He saw no one and stepped out into the large vestibule area in front of the door to Chancellor Palpatine's office.

"Here we go," Marco said quietly. They tip-toed past a vacant reception desk to the door and Star pressed her ear to it. "Hear anything?"

"No." She closed her eyes and held her palm to the door. "I do sense someone, though, but...it's weak...like someone...dying." Confused she stepped back. "Well...after you," she said, gesturing to the door.

"Me?"

"You're the one who wanted to come up here, you can go in first."

Marco swallowed nervously and pushed the button to open the door, revealing a long hallway. Deep red walls flanked them as they walked to the far end. Marco looked at the various bronze statues that lined the hall. "These things give me the creeps."

The hall ended in a small, circular room that housed another bronze statue in its center. Two short hallways branched off to the sides. One led to the ceremonial office of the Chancellor where meetings with senators, military leaders, and special visitors would occur. The other, blocked by a double sliding door, led to the Chancellor's smaller private office.

Marco turned toward the ceremonial office and strode cautiously to the end.

"Whoa!"

"What is it?" Star asked as she came up beside him.

Marco pointed to the far side of the office. "The window is...gone."

Sure enough, the massive transparisteel window that took up three-quarters of the exterior wall had been shattered, peppering the carpet behind the Chancellor's desk with sharp particles.

"Wow...what happened in here?" Star wondered aloud. "Hey...you don't think what that taxi driver said is true, do you?"

"Which taxi driver?"

"The first one."

"And which thing that he said are you referring to?"

"The thing about the Jedi staging a coup."

Marco frowned. He looked around as if searching for something specific. When he apparently didn't find it, he turned and strode briskly back down the hall to the set of doors blocking the passage to the Supreme Chancellor's private office.

"Marco?"

"I feel it, Star, I feel it. It's in here..."

Marco opened the door and was met with a sight he had never imagined he would see. At the end of the short corridor where it opened up into Palpatine's private office space, the unmistakable green-skinned form of Kit Fisto was laying motionless on the floor.

"Master Fisto!" Marco nearly yelled. He and Star ran to his side, falling to their knees on the floor beside him. Star briefly noticed two other bodies laying on the floor off to the side but did not acknowledge them.

Kit Fisto had a large burn through the front of his robe, cutting deep into the skin of his midsection. His breathing was shallow and labored, but he was still clinging to life. He opened his eyes at the sound of Star and Marco at his side. "M...Marco? Star? W-what are you doing here?" He struggled to get the words out, speech clearly causing him pain.

Marco ignored his question, not even sure how to properly answer. "Master Fisto, what..." He looked around the room, seeing the dead bodies of Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin a few feet away. "...what happened?"

Kit took a deep, raspy breath. "The Chancellor...is a Sith Lord."

"WHAT?!" the two Padawans cried.

"He was too...powerful...even for four of us," he said, sadly looking over at the bodies of his fallen compatriots. "And then...I could hear in the other room..." Kit winced in pain. "He...turned Anakin...to the dark side...and took him as his new apprentice."

Star and Marco gaped at each other, both now understanding Anakin's actions at the Jedi Temple earlier that night.

"And then," Kit continued, "the Chancellor ordered...every clone commander to execute their Jedi generals."

Star and Marco looked at each other. "Remember when I said this was really, really, really, really, really, really bad?" Star asked.

"Uh-huh."

"It's really, really, really, really really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY bad."

"Yeah."

Marco pulled Kit up to a sitting position, causing the Jedi Master to grimace in pain. "C'mon, Star, give me a hand. We've got to get him to a hospital."

"Marco...no..." Kit gasped. "You two have to get out of here."

"We can't just leave you here to die," Star protested.

"Even if you could get me to a hospital, every medical facility on Coruscant has a military guard and all of us would be killed."

The two Padawans exchanged another look, neither wanting to admit that Kit had a point. Catching something in her peripheral vision, Star suddenly rose to her feet and walked over to the window.

"Besides...if I am correct in what I am sensing...I will slow you down so much you will never make it out."

"...What...what are you sensing?" Marco asked nervously.

"Uh...Marco?"

The boy in question looked over at Star, who was pointing out the window. He quickly joined her and looked down at the concourse in front of the Senate building's main entrance. At least a dozen LAAT/i gunship's had just touched down, each off-loading a full squadron of clone troopers. Some of the troops took up sentry positions around the outside of the building, the rest marched inside.

"Well, Star, it's been nice knowing you."

"What do we do?"

Marco shrugged. "Get shot, probably."

Kit frowned. "Why are you so quick to lose hope, Marco?"

"Well, there's no way we'll be able to sneak out through the ventilation system now. They'll have it locked down for sure. And we'll never be able to fight our way out. Even if we were both Masters, we've only got one lightsaber between us. I was forced to leave mine behind when we escaped from the Temple."

Kit reached behind his back. His hand returned, outstretched, holding out his lightsaber. "Here," he said, "Take mine." He managed a small chuckle. "I certainly don't need it anymore."

Marco crossed the room so slowly, one might have thought he was trying not to set off land mines. Star followed right behind him. He hesitantly reached for the lightsaber hilt in Kit's hand, gently taking it from the Jedi Master as if it would would shatter.

"It will serve you well," Kit said simply.

Marco looked closely at the lightsaber he had crossed blades with so many times, and squeezed it hard in his hands. Much as he tried, he couldn't help it, tears began streaming down his face. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around the Jedi Master's shoulders. Star was sure Kit would say something about that being inappropriate, but Fisto put one arm around Marco and hugged him back. That was all the invitation Star needed. She knelt down, too, and threw her arms around the Nautolan's neck, her blue eyes filling up with tears, as well.

After a few moments, Kit spoke. "Listen to me." They released him so that they could see his face. "You two must leave right now and get as far away from Coruscant as possible. Find somewhere in the Outer Rim where you can blend in and disappear. For all we know, you two could be the very last of the Jedi Order. If the Sith are ever to be defeated, the spark of the Jedi must live on."

They nodded affirmatively, but could not coax words from their throats. Kit put his arms around them and drew them into a tight embrace once more. "I am very proud of you both. I know you two would have become great Jedi. And you make such a good team. Stick together. Always have each other's backs. Find some place to hide, and keep the Jedi Order alive."

"We will, Master."

Then Kit released them again and gently pushed them away. "Now go! You must leave!"

Star sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Master Fisto...for everything."

"We...we won't let you down..." Marco added.

Kit smiled. "I know you won't. Now go! Hurry!"

"May the Force be with you, Master Fisto," Star said quietly. Then she took Marco by the hand. "Come on, Marco," she whispered. "We need to go." Marco didn't move. "Marco. We need to leave."

He was staring past her, his eyes wide. "Uh...Star...?" He pointed down the hallway.

She swiveled her head around to see what he was pointing to...

...and found herself looking into the yellowed eyes of Chancellor Palpatine.

**Star Wars discussion:**

**Let's talk about lightsaber colors. **

**I really, really wanted Star's lightsaber to be blue and Marco's to be green just because I thought those colors matched each character's color palette better. (I'm not an artist at all, so you'll just have to picture it.) Unfortunately, lightsaber colors in the Star Wars universe have different meanings. In case you are unfamiliar, allow me to enlighten you:**

**A blue blade is the color of a Jedi Guardian. Think Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi who typically solves problems with either a Starfighter or his lightsaber. These are Jedi who are warriors first. Green blades, like that of Master Yoda, are for Jedi Consulars. They are much more interested in negotiating and typically only use their lightsaber as a last resort. **

**These are *extremely* basic descriptions, by the way. Check out Wookiepedia for more in depth descriptions. **

**Because of this, and because of the way that I wrote Star and Marco's characters in this story, I really felt like Star was more of a Jedi Consular and that her lightsaber should be green, and Marco was more of a Jedi Guardian and his lightsaber (for the brief time that it appeared) should be blue. **

**In Marco's case, I knew almost from the start that his lightsaber should be blue because one of the very first aspects of this story that I knew for 100% certain was that he was going to lose his own weapon and end up with Kit Fisto's. So, I really wanted his original lightsaber to be *not green* so that Kit's would be obviously different from his own...even though this is a fanfic and you can't actually see the blades anyway. **

**So if Marco's were to be blue, then I felt like Star's had to be green because I didn't want them to have the same color lightsaber...even though they were going to end up with the same color lightsaber anyway. Then I thought "well, maybe I'll just have her lose her lightsaber, too, and she can take Agen Kolar's blue lightsaber and then they'll be different colors again." But then I was like, "No, I can't do that, her lightsaber is her freakin' wand, she can't lose it."**

**So Star's is green, and Marco's was blue, and now Marco has Kit's, so they both have green. Which I guess is kinda cool because it's a rare thing in Star Wars that two main characters both have green lightsabers. The only example I can think of is that one episode of the Clone Wars...**

**Anyway, I agonized over the colors of their lightsabers for a long time, and it was not a decision made lightly, but now you know why I made them the way they are.**

* * *

**SVTFOE discussion:**

**Obviously, I wanted to get Star and Marco into their "normal" clothing, hence the whole scene where I try to make Marco's hoodie fit into Star Wars. I chose Star's blue dress (first seen in "Monster Arm", last seen in "Just Friends") because **

**A. It's my favorite of her recurring outfits and **

**B. I just think it fits into the Star Wars lexicon the best. **


	6. Outlaw Star

Chancellor Palpatine calmly stood in the short hallway just a meter and half from where Star stood. An IG-100 MagnaGuard, each armed with a deactivated electrostaff, flanked him on either side.

Star jumped back in surprise, her hand instinctively pulling her lightsaber from her bag before she had a chance to decide if doing so was actually a good idea. Beside her, Marco ignited Kit's lightsaber as she fired hers. They took defensive ready stances and prepared for whatever Palpatine might do next, the twin blades of their weapons filling the dim office with an emerald glow.

Marco squinted as he locked eyes on the Chancellor. "Dude...what happened to your face?"

"Well, well...what do we have here?" The wrinkled skin of Sheev Palpatine's face curled into an evil grin. "Two young Jedi, perhaps come to pay their respects to their treacherous old Masters?"

"They aren't the traitors!" Star spat, "You are!"

"My dear children, perhaps no one has informed you," Palpatine said calmly, his tone dripping with malice, "The entirety of the Jedi Order have been declared enemies of the State." He shook his head with feigned disappointment. "I'm afraid I have no choice but to execute you right here."

The two MagnaGaurds switched on their electrostaffs, the ends crackling to life with violet electricity. The droids advanced forward, one towards Star, and the other towards Marco. The Padawans engaged their respective opponents simultaneously, each utilizing the talents they had developed best.

The MagnaGaurd on the left raised its electrostaff and swung a parry at Marco, who easily blocked the droid's attack. The droid spun the electrostaff around and attacked from a different angle, which Marco blocked as he spun around backwards. He tucked his blade in low as his spin brought him back to face the MagnaGaurd again, swinging his lightsaber straight up and catching the droid right between the legs. The blade's momentum carried it all the way up through the droid's torso and clear through the top of its head. The two vertical halves of the MagnaGaurd fell aside, the electrostaff fizzling out as it clattered to the floor.

As Marco was easily dispatching the MagnaGaurd facing him, Star destroyed hers by throwing it against the wall and pinning it there with the Force. Then she merely stepped forward and made two sweeping slices with her lightsaber, hacking the droid into three pieces.

"Very impressive," the Chancellor said simply. He held his hands up. "But not good enough."

The bolts of lightning that exploded from the tips of the Chancellor's fingers caught the two Padawans so completely by surprise that, even if they had known that they could use their lightsabers to deflect it, they did not have enough time to bring their blades up to defend themselves. The lightning struck them with such tremendous force that Star and Marco were thrown backwards across the office into the large transparisteel window that overlooked the Coruscanti skyline, tumbling to the floor behind the massive desk.

"Ugghhhhhh..." Star groaned as she rolled over onto her back. She could see smoke rising from her skin and clothing as she staggered to her feet, picking up her lightsaber from the floor where it had landed. Marco was already doing the same beside her. They gave each other a brief nervous glance before igniting their lightsabers once more.

Palpatine cackled. "Such foolish children. Still loyal to your Jedi ways even as you are about to die...valiantly fighting until the end."

"We don't really have much of a choice, Dude," Marco said.

Star continued, "Yeah, you're standing between us and the exit."

Palpatine laughed again. "So it would seem." He raised his hands a second time. Star and Marco braced themselves, but the shock of electricity never came. Instead, they heard a pained yell and found that Kit Fisto had sprung up from the floor, jumping in front of Palpatine and acting as living shield. The lightning coursed across his wounded body, eliciting screams of pain from the Jedi Master.

"Kids! Run!" he cried.

Behind him, Palpatine laughed maniacally.

Instinct kicked in and Marco leapt across the desk toward Kit and Palpatine, Star hot on his heels, lightsabers poised to strike.

Struggling to move against the electrical current, Kit held up a hand and both Padawans suddenly found themselves levitating off the floor, suspended by the Force.

"I said-" Kit raised his other hand. Summoning every bit of strength and concentration he could muster, the Jedi Master focused on the transparisteel window. The massive window pane shattered, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the building.

"-RUN!"

Kit changed his focus to the two Padawans, and Star and Marco sailed backwards out the window, each giving a short shriek more out of surprise than fear.

As soon as they had vanished from sight, Kit collapsed, physically unable to remain upright any longer. Darth Sidious paused his lightning attack.

"Still fighting to protect others even up to your dying breath, eh, Master Fisto?" Sidious sneered.

Kit said nothing. His breathing was labored and heavy, his vision becoming blurred. "I will...become one...with the Force...peacefully...knowing those kids...are safe..."

Sidious leaned closer. "They won't be for long."

Despite his immense pain, Kit's mouth curled into a smile. "You will...never get...those two...They're...too clever...for an arrogant...and shriveled up...old Sith Lord..."

Sidious slowly drew himself to his full height, visibly angered by Fisto's comment. "We shall see about that."

Kit chuckled to himself and looked out the window. From where he lay on the floor, he had a perfect view of the star-speckled sky. "Good luck, you two," he whispered to himself.

Sidious sent another shock of Force lightning into the Nautolan's body. He did not cease until the Jedi Master's screams faded into moans, and the moans faded into silence. When Kit Fisto's tortured body stopped convulsing, Sidious called the lightsaber of Saesee Tiin, which lay on the floor beside its fallen owner, to his hand with the Force and lopped off Fisto's head, just out of spite. Then Sidious strolled to the window and looked out over the long, sloping roof of the Senate building.

There was no sign of Star or Marco.

* * *

A crowd of people stood on a skybridge watching the deluge of Republic military personnel that seemed to be taking over the Senate building some five hundred meters away, wondering both to themselves and out loud what could possibly going on. No one paid any mind to the two casually dressed teenagers leaning against the railing at the far end. They each had an arm around the other's shoulders, leaning against each other for both physical and emotional support, breathing heavily and slowly.

For several minutes, they remained silent, until Star finally said, "Well...that was quite the harrowing adventure, getting over here from the roof of the Senate building."

"Yeah," Marco replied, trying and gloriously failing to sound upbeat. "Thank goodness no one saw us, but if anyone had, it would have been quite a spectacle."

"Yeah, it, uh...sure was exciting." She leaned her head against Marco's, and she could feel him start to choke up. Now that they had a moment to rest, he was losing the battle to keep his emotions in check, and he was fighting to keep his sorrow silent. "I'm sorry, Marco," Star whispered as Marco wiped his eyes with his free hand. A few tears slipped down her own cheeks, as well.

For a few minutes, they stood on the skybridge, leaning against each other in silence, Star unsure what to say, Marco far too emotional to speak at all.

Finally, Star dried her moist cheeks. "You know..." she began slowly. She slid her arm from around Marco's neck and took his hand in hers. "Mast- Kit...sacrificed himself to save us." Marco met his best friend's gaze and felt slightly comforted. "Let's not let his death be in vain," Star finished, squeezing his hand.

Marco sniffled and dried his eyes on his new red hooded-cloak thing. He took one last deep breath. "Yeah...you're right. We owe it to him to at least do what he said and get off of Coruscant." He squeezed Star's hand back. "So let's make sure we do just that."

Star looked hard into Marco's brown eyes. "We stick together."

Marco managed a slight but very determined smile. "We have each other's backs."

Star pulled Marco in and wrapped him in a full hug. "And we do whatever it takes to survive."

Being nestled in Star's arms made Marco feel very secure and gave him a feeling of encouragement. He hugged her back tightly as if his life depended on it. "As long as we're together, I know we'll be okay."

The two Padawans made their way toward the other end of the skybridge where it met up with a walkway that led deeper into the city. "There's no way we can get to Aunt Eclipsa now," Star said. "And even if we could, I wouldn't want anyone to be reminded that her niece is a Jedi. I wouldn't want to put her in danger like that."

"So what's plan B?" Marco asked as they stepped around a group of people excitedly talking about whatever going on at the Senate building. "And, I gotta ask again, where exactly do we go once we get off Coruscant?"

Star shook her head. "I have no idea. I mean, I guess we could go to my home on Mewni...but I wouldn't want to put my parents and my people in any danger, either."

"Good point." Marco thought for a moment. "We could go to Jakku."

"That junkyard?"

Marco shrugged. "No one ever actually _wants_ to go to Jakku. They'd never even look for us there."

"...Yeahhhhh...How about we keep that as a backup plan? Like a plan 'S' or even plan 'T'."

"Okay. How about Tatooine?"

"How about no?"

They reached the end of the skybridge where the walkway passed through the center of a building. Star stopped. "Okay, I may have an idea how we can get off-world, but...I don't know how much you're gonna like it."

"Hey, I got nothing," Marco said, "so I am open to suggestions." Though he had managed to stop crying, his voice still quivered a bit.

Star leaned against the wall, keeping her voice down as she spoke so that the increasing numbers of passersby would not hear their discussion. "Well...we could ask Tom and Janna for a ride."

Marco blinked. "I was with you at 'Tom', but you lost me at 'Janna.'"

"Oh, come on, Marco, you know Janna likes you."

"I know, and that's the problem."

Star groaned. "Look, if what Kit and the Chancellor said is all true, and if the Clone activity at the Senate was any indication, I guarantee every ship leaving the planet will be stopped and inspected looking for Jedi. Even if we could have gotten to Aunt Eclipsa and borrowed money for tickets on a transport, they'd probably know it's us even if we don't look like Jedi."

Marco sighed. "I hate to say it, but you're right. Likely the only way we're getting out of this system alive is if we're smuggled out...so calling two smugglers probably isn't a bad idea."

"Exactly."

"There's only one flaw in this plan. We don't have any way of contacting them."

"Well, there's actually two flaws," Star said.

"What's the other?"

Star shrugged. "I don't know if Tom and Janna are even here on Coruscant."

Marco let himself fall back against the wall. "Greaaaat."

Star leaned against the wall beside him. "Yeah, I know it's not exactly ideal. But if we're going to survive, we have to start somewhere. Plan A got sidetracked...and then completely derailed...so now we're up to Plan B: Call Tom and Janna for help."

"What's Plan C?"

Star gave him a playful shove, trying to make a little bit of light out of their dire and very sad situation. "I'll let you know when Plan B fails. Now, Plan B - Part 1 is find a way to contact Tom and Janna if they're even here." She clapped her hands together. "So...hit me with an idea, idea man."

"Why am I the idea man?"

"Because I got nothin'! So c'mon!" She poked Marco's arm. "Think!"

Marco knew what Star was doing. She was trying to be her usual somewhat-silly self to distract him from being sad about Kit's death.

And he had to admit, it was working. Coming up with a plan for getting in touch with Tom and Janna would help keep his mind off of it, too, so he decided to do so. He glanced all around the pathway, hoping for some inspiration.

"Well...I see two options here."

"Oh, goody! I love choices!"

"We can try to buy a commlink with the credits I have left, but that runs a higher risk of being seen by security cameras and such that feed into the Coruscant Police Force. Plus, it's the middle of the night, where are we gonna find a place that sells commlinks at this hour?"

"We did find a place that sells clothing," Star reminded him.

Marco looked down at this clothes. His new red hooded cloak - he decided that he would call it a "hoodie" for short - had singe marks from Palpatine's Force lightning. Star's blue dress had a couple, too. "Oh, yeah. Right. Well, still too risky."

"What's your other idea?"

Marco gave a small, nervous chuckle. "We, uh, steal one."

"Okay. Easy-peasy."

"Wait, you're actually okay with doing that?"

Star gave her long blonde hair a flip with her hand. "Hey, the Republic wants us dead, that basically makes us outlaws," she said excitedly. "Much as I didn't want to get involved with the Clone War, being an outlaw kinda sounds like fun." Then she turned serious. "Besides, you heard what Master Fisto said. We have to do whatever it takes just to stay alive. I wouldn't do anything that's going to completely ruin someone's life, but snatching one little commlink ain't gonna hurt nobody."

Marco rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." Star rubbed her hands together. "Now, lets find a willing commlink donor." She started to walk off and Marco moved to follow her, but she put a hand to his chest and stopped him. "Stay here. I got this."

She strolled out from where the walkway passed through the building and back onto the skybridge. More and more people were arriving to see what the commotion at the Senate was about, and the facing railing was lined nearly end to end with beings of all sorts. She could tell by the way nearly all of them were dressed that they were residents of Coruscant's upper levels, and that made her feel significantly less guilty about stealing a commlink from one of them. Moseying along, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, Star scanned the beings who faced away from her, leaning on the railing.

She stopped behind an orange-skinned Twi'lek male. In the back pocket of his trousers, she could see the distinct outline of a hand-held commlink.

_Bingo._

She turned her back and stood as close to the Twi'lek as she dared, holding her hands clasped behind her back. She focused her mind on the commlink, and, as slowly as she could, pulled the commlink from the man's pocket and drew it into her waiting hands with the Force. Then she casually strolled back to where Marco stood waiting.

"Well?" he asked as she returned.

"As promised," she dropped the small cylindrical device into his hand, "one commlink."

Marco examined it closely. "Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just did not expect it to go that smoothly." He slid it into the pocket of his hoodie. "Let's find somewhere quiet and out of sight to try to contact Tom."

"And Janna."

"...And Janna."

They headed further along the walkway and began searching for a place they wouldn't be seen making an emergency call. Soon, they found a narrow alleyway between two buildings where very little lighting penetrated, perfect for concealing them.

Marco handed the commlink back to Star. "You remember the frequency?"

"I think so. I really hope they're here, because if they aren't, we're back to square one again."

Star input the frequency and took a deep breath. "Moment of truth."

And she hailed their friends.

**This chapter is a little short, but it was a logical place for a chapter break before the next scene.**

**Get excited for the next chapter. It was a lot of fun to write. **


	7. Janna, Tom, and PY-HD

**I think this is my favorite chapter I've written so far, so I hope ya'll enjoy it!**

The intimidating weequay guard with massive biceps opened the door and stood aside. "The boss is waitin' for ya," he said politely, motioning for the guests to enter. "Best not keep him waitin.' Bad stuff goin' down on Coruscant tonight, and he don't wanna stick around."

"We won't keep him waiting." Captain Ordonia gave her compatriot a shove through the doorway, causing him to gasp in surprise.

"Geez, Janna, take it easy," Tom said as the door slid closed noisily behind them.

"Hey, you heard what Chuck said. There's a lot of weirdness going on tonight, and I don't want to be here any more than our client does."

Tom looked back at the door they'd just come through. "That guy's name was Chuck? Wait, weirdness? What kind of weirdness?"

"I've been hearing chatter about it all night, but no one really seems to know for sure what's going on. It's all happening on the far side of the planet from here." They reached the end of the dimly lit hallway and turned left. "All I know is that, apparently, there's a heck of a lot of activity from Republic Army, and if that's the case, I don't want to stick around here any longer than we have to."

Tom made a face. "Yeah, that's probably for the best. I was hoping maybe we could see Star and Marco while we were here, but probably best if we skedaddle back to Takodonna as soon as possible."

Janna made a disgusted face. "'Skedaddle'? What are you, 90?"

* * *

Elsewhere in the facility, the YV-560 light freighter _Raventalon _sat in the docking bay, a continuous stream of workers climbing up and down the boarding ramp as they unloaded crates from the cargo hold. It was an old ship, built many moons ago by Corellian Engineering Corporation, but well kept by its owners. The main hull was almost saucer shaped, with a forward centrally located cockpit sitting between symmetrical front mandibles that provided the cockpit with physical protection in addition to the shields, along with housing the forward cannons and supply storage.

A light-blue astromech droid with a sharpened spike attached to the top of its dome was currently the only member of the crew on board, plugged into a computer terminal in the cockpit to monitor the workers milling about in the cargo hold through the various onboard sensors.

Something on the control panel chimed and caught the droid's attention. It was audible only, not readable through the computer terminal, so whatever was giving off an alert was not part of the ship's systems. The droid disconnected from the terminal and rolled over to the space between the pilot and co-pilot's seats, propping up as high as it could on its feet to see the control panel.

The beeping sound was coming from Captain Ordonia's commlink. She'd left it on the ship as she always did when going to meet directly with a customer so that she would not be interrupted.

A thin metal arm unfolded from the front of the droid's body and picked up the commlink, pressing the button to answer the call as the arm retracted back again. The droid whistled a greeting.

_"Pony Head? Is that you?" _came Star's voice from the other end of the transmission. The droid bleeped an affirmative response. _"Where's Janna? I need to talk to her right now! It's really important!"_

The droid gave a curt series of various noises which could be interpreted to mean "Too bad, Janna isn't here."

_"Please, Pony Head, we're in big trouble, and we-"_

_"St-St-Star!_

_"Marco, I am on the comm."_

_"But look!"_

_"Ohhhh, no."_

* * *

At the end of the alley, the orange-skinned male Twi'lek Star had lifted the commlink from was pointing angrily as he walked toward them. "Hey! You two!"

Star sprang up and hauled Marco to his feet. "C'mon, Marco! Run!"

They took off down the alley, the Twi'lek pouring on the speed to keep up. "Come back here with my commlink!"

They turned left at the end of the alley and nearly crashed into two clone troopers who, fortunately, were facing the other way.

"Eep!" Marco squeaked, but Star spun him around and they took off the opposite way.

_"What was that?" _one clone trooper asked. They both turned just as the Twi'lek emerged from the alley.

"Troopers!" the man shouted, pointing at the pair of fleeing teenagers. "Those kids stole my commlink!"

_"Not our jurisdiction, sir," _one clone told him. _"But we can contact the Coruscant police for you."_

"But they're getting away! Can't you just stun them or something?"

_"Sir, we can't-"_

The Twi'lek took the clone troopers completely by surprise and grabbed the nearest one's blaster riffle.

_"Hey!" _the clones yelled as the man took off in pursuit again.

When the Twi'lek felt he was far enough ahead of the clones to allow enough time to stop, aim, and fire, he did so, aiming directly at the spot between Star's shoulder blades and squeezing the trigger. The instant he did so, he realized he had forgotten to set the blaster riffle to stun first.

* * *

"Go get Janna, Pony! Go get Janna!" Star yelled into the commlink as she ran.

The droid replied with a series of annoyed beeps.

"I don't care! Go get-!"

Suddenly, Star felt a tremor in the Force. Acting entirely on instinct, she spun around, calling her lightsaber to her hand and igniting it as she did. She deflected the blaster bolt the Twi'lek had fired at her...

...and then froze as she saw not only the Twi'lek who had fired at her, but also the two clone troopers, all looking right at her.

"Ohhh, that's not good."

Marco realized Star was no longer beside him and stopped running. "Star?" He saw her standing a few yards behind him, her lightsaber in her hand. "Star!"

_"Hey! They're Jedi!" _the clone troopers could be heard yelling. One roughly grabbed his blaster riffle back from the Twi'lek. _"Blast 'em!" _

Marco pulled his lightsaber from his hoodie pocket and ignited it as the clones began firing on he and Star.

_"Call for backup!" _

"Pony!" Star yelled into the commlink as she began deflecting the salvo of blaster fire streaming toward her with her other hand. "Go get Janna, NOW!"

* * *

Tom slapped the button on the activation panel. The old door noisily slid open to reveal a large storage room that had been converted into a makeshift office space, as dim as the hallway except for the white buzzing light hanging from the ceiling above the large wooden table in the center of the room. A number of hired guns milled about the room, nearly every one a different species. There was a Twi'lek, a rodian, and another weequay, plus some sort of giant lobster wearing only a pair of purple shorts and an ammo belt. There was a being with red skin and two heads, a massive bird-like being covered in white feathers, and a huge pink thing with three eyes like Tom.

A single chair sat on the opposite side of the table, and it spun around as Janna and Tom approached, revealing their customer.

"Ah, you've arrived! Welcome Captain Ordonia!"

"'Sup, Ludo," Janna said nonchalantly, resting her right hand on the table and leaning on it.

"Hello, Mr. Avarius, sir," Tom said politely, giving a small wave.

Ludo shielded his mouth from Tom and loudly whispered to Janna. "Who's the new guy?"

"I...I'm Tom. Tom Lucitor? We've met, several times."

Ludo shrugged. "Doesn't ring a bell."

Tom started to protest, but then stopped, let his shoulders sag and said, "O-okay."

Ludo turned his attention back to Janna. "If you are here, then I am assuming that the _Raventalon_ is in my docking bay being unloaded?"

"Yup. And don't try any funny business with my ship this time," Janna said, pointing an accusatory finger in the tiny Kappa's face. "My security force is keeping a close eye on your employees."

"Security force? You mean that funny-looking astromech with the horn on its dome?"

"That's the one. Now, let's talk business. Tom?"

Tom reached into the breast pocket of his black bantha-leather jacket and extracted a small datapad. He offered it to Ludo, who took it and examined the readout. "As promised, we transported exactly 906 kilos of sugar seeds from your farm on Felucia." Reading upside down, he pointed to various lines on the datapad's readout. "Here is our itemized expense report for fuel and supplies, plus our rate for payload weight versus distance hauled, and it all comes out to..." Tom scrolled over to the next screen. "...exactly twelve-thousand nine hundred and fourteen credits."

Ludo examined the numbers, and then picked up another datapad from the table, tapped a few commands, and then compared them side-by-side. Then he dropped both datapads on the table and squinted at Janna. "Do you know something, Captain Ordonia?"

"What's that, Ludo?"

The tiny Kappa hopped up on the table and walked over to stand right in Janna's face. "Your estimate for doing the job and your bill are _exactly _the same."

Janna leaned closer so that there was even less space between their faces. "I know. My occupation is 'smuggler,' not 'swindler.'"

Ludo laughed and hopped back into his chair. "And that's why I always like dealing with you. You're the most trustworthy scoundrel in the galaxy!"

"Well, that is what it says on my business card."

"Haha! So it is!" Ludo snapped his fingers. "Dennis!"

A side door slid open and a second Kappa who looked like a younger and much taller version of Ludo strode into the room carrying a briefcase.

"Oh, hey you guys!" he greeted cheerfully. "Good to see you again, Captain. And Tom, new jacket?"

Tom pointed at Dennis excitedly. "See? See? Dennis remembers me! I like him."_  
_

Dennis laughed and set the briefcase down on the table, popped the latches, and opened it. Inside were perfectly stacked rows of Republic credit chips.

"You delivered to me, so I deliver to you," Ludo said happily. "Twelve thousand nine hundred and fourteen credits."

Janna scanned the rows of credit chips and squinted at them hard, rubbing her jaw thoughtfully.

"A pleasure doing business with you," Ludo said, jumping down to the floor from his chair. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to attend to before I can get off this rock. Bad things going on tonight and I would really like to get out of here." He waved goodbye without looking back as he began to walk off. "Until next time, Captain Ordonia."

There was a distinct clicking sound, one every single being in the room recognized. Dennis gasped. Ludo turned and found Janna aiming a DC-17 hand blaster at his cranium. Every hired gun in the room scrambled to aim their blasters at the teenage girl threatening their boss. Janna did not so much as flinch.

"Janna!" Tom yelped. "What are you doing?"

"Yes, Captain, what are you doing?" Ludo asked sarcastically.

Janna sneered at Ludo. "You're trying to pull the wool over my eyes, Ludo. _Nobody_gets one over on Captain Janna Ordonia." Reaching her hand into the open briefcase, she snatched up a fistful of credit chips and tossed them at Dennis behind the table, who jumped back in surprise. The gap left in the rows of neatly stacked credits revealed a slab aluminum hidden beneath.

"Care to explain this?"

Ludo folded his arms and smirked. "Like I said: most trustworthy scoundrel in the galaxy. Unfortunately for you, that makes you easy to take advantage of. And you know what's even cheaper than underpaying you?"

Janna narrowed her eyes at him. "I'd love to know."

"I would not," Tom quickly interjected.

Ludo's smirk grew. "Killing you."

The hired guns each took one step forward, the room filling with a series of clicks as each flipped off their blasters' safety.

"So what's it going to be, Captain?" Ludo asked. "Accepting the money I offered or a quick blaster bolt to the head?"

Dennis shrank under the table for safety, and the room became deathly quiet. For several very tense moments, everyone in the room stood like statues, waiting for Janna to react. Her eyes flickered back and forth to each of the hired guns, to the briefcase on the table, to Ludo, and back.

And then the silence was broken by the sound of the main door opening. A light blue astromech droid burst into the room, screeching to a halt directly between Janna and Ludo, beeping and twittering excitedly. The hired guns all watched the droid curiously.

"Pony Head!" Janna cried, retracting her arm so that her blaster pistol was not aimed at the droid. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, excuse me," interjected Ludo, "your droid is called 'Pony Head'?"

"Her designation is PY-HD, but that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, so I came up with a nickname that uses those letters," Janna quickly explained. Then to the still chittering droid, "Pony Head, what's gotten into you? I told you to stay with the ship!"

The droid made another series of beeps.

"Emergency communicate? From who?"

The droid tipped back on its legs and produced a commlink from a small front compartment, held by a wiry arm. PY-HD bleeped a few times into the commlink, and then someone on the other end began to speak.

_"Janna! Janna, are you there?!"_

"Star? Is that you?"

_"Oh, thank goodness!" _In the background, there was a muffled explosion. _"I don't have time to explain, but-" _

_"Star, look out!"_

There was a loud crash and an electronic humming sound. Janna looked over her shoulder at Tom, her eyes searching for an answer, but Tom just shrugged.

A few more seconds and Star's voice returned, the words flowing out of the commlink as if the girl on the other end was talking as fast as she possibly could._"I don't have time to explain, but Marco and I need to get off of Coruscant right away! And when I say 'right away' I mean, like, we are currently in the middle of a firefight and could really use a pickup immediately, if not sooner!"_

Blaster fire could be heard in the background.

_"Please hurry, Janna! I already- MARCO! ON YOUR RIGHT! I already sent Pony the coordinates! Please, Janna!"_

And then the connection dropped, the room falling silent once again. Janna looked at Ludo, at the many guns pointed directly at her, over her shoulder at Tom, who looked panicked but said nothing, and then at PY-HD, who beeped something quiet that sounded angry.

"Ahem!" Ludo narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like your friends are in trouble. I don't think that leaves you much time for, ah, 'negotiation' if you want to save them."

"Janna?" She looked over her shoulder at Tom. "We have to go."

Janna sighed and returned her DC-17 to its holster. "You're right." She closed the briefcase and picked it up, then briskly strode toward the door, Tom and PY-HD close behind.

Ludo laughed. "A pleasure doing business with you, Captain Ordonia!"

Janna opened the door. "I'm considering this a down payment," she said, holding up the briefcase. "I'll be back to collect the rest at a later date. With interest."

"We'll see about that," Ludo snickered.

"Yes. Yes we will." And then Janna, Tom and PY-HD disappeared through the doorway.

The second they were out of Ludo's line of sight, they took off at a sprint toward the docking bay.

* * *

Two of Ludo's workers were carrying the last large crate down the _Raventalon_'s boarding ramp as Janna, Tom and PY-HD came racing into the docking bay. They rushed up the ramp, knocking the two workers and their burden off the side, the crate smashing open on the floor.

"Hey!" they yelled angrily, but the crew of the _Raventalon _had already disappeared into the ship.

Janna jumped into the pilot's seat on the left side of the cockpit and was already flipping switches to fire up the sublight engines as Tom made it into the copilot's seat.

"Pony, you've got the coordinates?" Janna called. Behind her, PY-HD was plugging into the computer terminal, and the astromech chattered an affirmative reply.

"Good, get 'em on Tom's console. Tom, get the boarding ramp up."

Tom flicked a switch on the panel over his head. "Ramp is retracting."

"Engine is online, no time to wait for a warmup cycle. Everything ready, Pony?"

Pony Head whistled a yes.

"Alright, here we go!" Janna throttled up the engine to light power, piloted the ship vertically out of the docking bay, switched the control yoke from repulsorlift to sublight control, and shoved the throttle up against its stop. The _Raventalon _shot forward, racing to the coordinates Star had sent. "Hang on, you guys," Janna said under her breath. "We're coming for you."

* * *

Star and Marco were doing something that Jedi do not normally do: they were running for their lives. The two clone troopers who had spotted them had called for backup, and disposing of two Jedi who had yet to be executed was a high priority task. A few at a time, more troopers arrived, converging on their location from the surrounding streets, their numbers quickly overwhelming the two Padawans. Even a Jedi Master would have been outmatched. Running down the skywalks as fast as their legs would carry them and ducking down alleys between buildings was the only way Star and Marco could evade them, deflecting blaster bolts behind them with their lightsabers as they ran.

Then a clone trooper armed with a rocket launcher joined the fight. He didn't hit them, but he did hit the pathway just behind Star and Marco, the shockwave from the explosion sending the two Padawans flying through the air. Using the Force to cushion her collision with the ground, Star landed semi-gracefully, but Marco landed hard on his left shoulder.

"Argh!" he groaned as he crashed to the ground and rolled along the duracrete skywalk. "Star!" He gasped in pain. "I dislocated my shoulder again!"

Covering herself and Marco with her lightsaber, Star hurried over to her best friend and helped him up. "C'mon, Marco! We can't stop!" Unfortunately, their visit with the ground had allowed their pursuers to close the gap on them significantly. The clones were too close to run from now. At such close proximity and with only their lightsabers for protection, they almost certainly would be gunned down. In fact, before they had even taken three steps, Marco cried out in pain again as he was struck in the back of the right leg by a blaster bolt.

"Marco!" Star cried as her best friend collapsed to the ground, unable to walk.

"Augh! My leg!" Marco cried as he clutched at the injury, his lightsaber falling from his grip and clattering to the ground.

There was no chance they could make a run for it now.

Star picked up Marco's lightsaber and then hauled him up by his right arm, pulling said arm around her shoulders. Just ahead was a skywalk kiosk, a substantially built one that, when open during the day, made and sold baked confectionary treats. She helped Marco into the center of it, blaster fire clattering against the durasteel side as the clones continued to fire on them. Carefully, she propped Marco up in a sitting position against a storage compartment door and then peeked over the top of the counter.

The trooper with the rocket launcher had just finished reloading his weapon and was preparing to fire again. Star raised her hand, reached out with the Force, yanked the rocket launcher from the clone's hands, and flung it past the walkway's edge into the chasm below.

"That should buy us a little time." She looked skyward, hoping to see the familiar circular shape of Janna and Tom's ship in the night sky. "Come, on Janna, where are you?"

* * *

With an atmospheric top speed of 750 kilometers per hour, it did not take long for the _Raventalon _to reach Star and Marco's last known location. Janna slowed the ship's speed to a crawl as they neared the coordinates.

"Okay, we're about there," Janna announced. "Now we just have to hope they're still alive and figure out where they are."

Suddenly, an LAAT/i gunship raced underneath the _Raventalon _and dove into the chasm between two rows of skyscrapers. Tom followed its flight path with his eyes. "I don't think that's gonna be a problem."

* * *

Blaster bolts continued to ping off the durasteel sides of the kiosk with ever increasing frequency as even more clone troopers converged on the scene of the battle. Star and Marco huddled inside, Marco still clutching his injured right leg with his good right arm while his dislocated left one hung limp at his side.

"Star?"

She met his eyes.

"I know you really don't want to, but...they're getting close...you're going to have to start fighting back."

Star sighed. "I know." She rose up cautiously on the balls of her feet, looking over the top of the kiosk's counter. "I was this close to never once having to kill someone..." Her emerald blade came to life in her hand and she sprang up to her full height. Her glowing blade made her an easy target in the dark, but that's what she was counting on. She flipped her lightsaber quickly back and forth, deflecting the bolts of energy that came her way and trying to redirect them back at the clones who had fired them.

After a dozen or so tries, she finally managed to hit the nearest clone trooper, sending him flying to the ground.

_I just killed someone_. _I can't believe I just did that. _

It only took eight tries to take out a second clone trooper with a deflected blaster bolt, and five tries to hit a third.

"Hey, I'm actually getting pretty good at this." _And I'm not feeling guilty for some reason._

_Probably because I'm trying to not get me and Marco killed. _

Then she heard a familiar noise. She looked up and saw the belly of a gunship descending out of the night sky toward them.

"Oh, greaaaat. One more thing to worry about!"

* * *

Janna edged the ship forward, following the gunship's flight path. When they were hovering almost directly over the spot where the gunship had disappeared, she instantly spotted the green glowing blade of a single lightsaber, standing out easily in the darkness of the early morning. It's wielder stood in the center of a skywalk kiosk, rapidly deflecting blaster fire. "There's...well, Star, at least."

"Where's Marco?"

"I only see one lightsaber and it's Star's," Janna said as she switched the controls back to repulorlifts again. "Marco could be there, but I can't see him." Below, she could see the gunship that had just blown past them floating back and forth past the kiosk where Star's lightsaber blade could be seen. Janna figured it was probably trying to figure out the angle at which to fire that would cause the least amount of collateral damage to the surrounding buildings. "You may want to get on the ventral cannon," she said to Tom as she dropped the ship down between the buildings. "I get the feeling we're gonna be shooting our way out of here."

"We'll probably get shot at as soon as they realize we're here," Tom said as he jumped from the copilot's seat and hurried back into the depths of the freighter.

* * *

"Star! I see Janna's ship!" Marco cried excitedly.

Star ducked back down behind the safety of the kiosk and looked skyward again. The unmistakable profile of the _Raventalon _was slowly dropping toward them.

"Woo! Janna!" Star cheered, ducking below the counter for cover. She held her lightsaber skyward and waved the glowing blade back and forth to catch Janna's attention. "Jannaaaaaa! We're here!"

A hydraulic whine caught Marco's ear. It came from the direction of the gunship that was still hovering menacingly over the chasm, and Marco knew what it meant.

"Uh...Star?" he called out, his voice laced with panic.

"What?"

"That gunship is about to fire a rocket at us!"

* * *

PY-HD let out a panicked series of boops that made Janna's eyes go wide.

"The gunship just armed it's rockets?!" She quickly keyed the intercom button. "Tom! That gunship is about fire rockets at them!"

_"What?! They wouldn't! Not here so close to the buildings!"_

* * *

_Forty-seven seconds earlier..._

The clone pilot's holo display came to life, displaying an image of Chancellor Palpatine. _"Captain, have the two Jedi Padawans been destroyed yet?"_

_"We have them pinned down, sir, but we have not yet been able to hit them."_

_"If they are pinned down, then decimate their position."_

_"They are in the middle of the city, sir. I am trying to find a firing position that will not cause collateral damage to the surrounding buildings."_

_"Collateral damage is of little concern to me, Captain. Those Jedi need to be destroyed. Now."_

_"It will be done, my Lord."_

* * *

"Whether you think they would or not, Pony Head picked it up on the sensors!" Janna yelled. "So shoot the darn gunship!"

_"Okay! I'm shooting it!"_

* * *

A barrage of laser fire ripped from the _Raventalon_'s ventral cannon and struck the gunship amidship. Not expecting to be fired on by another ship, the gunship did not even have its shields up. The lasers tore through a weak point in the gunship's armor and struck the rocket magazine, and a second later the LAAT/i was shredded by a deafening explosion.

Star extinguished her lightsaber and dove against the side of the kiosk where Marco sat, both Padawans shielding their heads from the explosion as large chunks of hot shrapnel pelted the buildings, skywalk, and the kiosk.

The gunship plummeted down into the chasm between the buildings. A second later, Star and Marco felt the entire structure that supported the skywalk tremble. The remains of the gunship had collided with building several dozen stories down.

"What was that?" Marco cried.

"I don't know, but it was definitely not good."

* * *

"I didn't say blow it up!" Janna yelled. "I just wanted you to shoot it!"

_"How does 'shoot it' not mean to blow it up?!" _

"I just wanted you to give them a reason not to shoot at Star!"_  
_

From their positions on the skywalks below, the clone troopers turned their fire toward the _Raventalon. _

"Oh, great." Janna quickly stood from her seat and leaned all the way across the control board to Tom's side, flicking several switches to activate the shield generator.

As she returned to her seat, the blaster fire ceased all at once. Before Janna even had a chance to wonder why, a series of panicked beeps came from PY-HD.

"What do you mean the building is falling over?"

* * *

The massive skyscraper supporting the section of skywalk that Star and Marco were currently taking shelter on had been massively damaged by the collision with the falling gunship. A huge section of several floors midway down the building had been torn off, and now the top half of the structure was massively under supported, swaying toward the chasm.

"I think-" Star braced herself against the kiosk's counter and tried to pull herself to her feet. "I think the building is coming down!" Rising above the counter, she realized that the clone troopers had ceased firing on them. They were all scrambling for safety, rushing back to where the skywalk was supported by a different building. She held her lightsaber up above her head once more, igniting the green blade and waving it frantically skyward. "Helllllllp!" she yelled. "Get down here, Janna!"

* * *

"We've got to get down there now!" Janna cried as she sent the _Raventalon _descending toward her friends once again. "Tom, get down to the boarding ramp!"

_"On it!"_

* * *

Tom climbed out of the ventral turret and rushed to the boarding ramp. He flipped the lever on the exterior bulkhead and the boarding ramp slowly lowered, a blast of Coruscanti night air rushing into the cabin.

Up in the cockpit, Janna rotated the ship around so that the ramp faced the skywalk. Tom could see Star, still waving her lightsaber, standing in the middle of the kiosk.

"Tom!" she yelled out to him excitedly, but he was too far away to hear her over the noise from the ship's repulorlifts.

The _Raventalon_'s decent halted with the end of the boarding ramp at the edge of the teetering skywalk, only a few meters away from the kiosk. Tom urgently waved to her. "Come on!" he yelled.

Star switched off her lightsaber and returned it to her bag. "C'mon! We gotta go, Marco!" She hauled Marco up by his good arm and pulled his arm around her shoulders as she had done before. He winced in pain as he put weight on his blaster-injured leg. "Unngh, Star! I can't-"

Star gritted her teeth in determination. "I got you, Marco! I got you!" She walked him out of the kiosk as the building trembled again. As they started toward the ship, there was a groan loud enough to rattle their ribs and the building began to tilt sharply downward.

"AHHHH!" they both screamed in surprise as they lost their balance, separating as they fell on their backs and began sliding down the skywalk toward the chasm.

Janna shoved the control yoke down and twisted it to the right, and the _Raventalon_shot downward, stopping several meters below where the skywalk's edge now dangled, hovering at an angle so that the ramp was exposed from above instead of blocked by the ship's hull.

Tom watched as his friends reached the edge of the skywalk, realizing they were about to fall right to him. "Oh, boy!" He held his arms out, ready to catch at least one of them if need be.

Star slid off the edge and semi-gracefully fell right onto the boarding ramp, Tom catching her to help her regain her balance.

"Gotcha!" Tom said.

Right behind her, Marco crashed down onto the edge of the ramp, crying out in pain as his injured leg buckled on the impact. He fell over backward and tumbled off the end of the ramp.

"Marco!" Star and Tom yelled.

For a second, Marco thought that was the end of his adventure. Surely, this was an unsurvivable fall. But no sooner did the thought cross his mind, he realized that he was no longer falling.

And then Star appeared above him, looking over the end of the _Raventalon_'s boarding ramp, holding her arm outstretched, palm out, suspending him in the air with the Force. Slowly, Marco began to float upward.

"Come on...come on..." Star gasped, concentrating hard.

Tom knelt down and hooked his left arm around the hydraulic piston that raised and lowered the ramp from the outboard end. He stretched down with his other hand as far as could as Marco reached out with his own.

Seconds passed that felt like years.

Finally, Marco's hand was within reach. Tom grabbed his arm and assisted Star's Force-pull to haul the young Padawan onto the ramp. Marco nearly fell over again when his injured leg touched down, but Star was ready for him this time and caught him.

"You got him?" Tom yelled over the sound of the repulsorlifts.

"I got him!" Star called back.

Tom scurried back up the boarding ramp and flipped the handle back up. The ramp rose beneath Star and Marco until it sealed the bottom of the ship's hull.

And then Star and Marco both collapsed from exhaustion into a heap on the floor, panting for breath.

The _Raventalon _rose from the Coruscant skyline and sped away from the scene as the top half of the building they'd just been standing on toppled over into the chasm.

"Looks like you two had quite the adventure," Tom said with a chuckle.

"Yeah...you could...you could say that," Star managed through her labored breathing.

"Are you guys okay?"

"I'm not particularly," Marco said. "I got shot in the leg. Also-"

"I know, your shoulder," Star interrupted. "Again. I'll...I'll reset it in a minute."

"Dude, you got shot?! Let me go get the medical kit!" And Tom hurried away.

Marco looked up at Star from where he lay sprawled out on the floor. "Star...?"

And then he suddenly sound himself wrapped in a crushing hug as Star pulled him into her arms. "Oh, Marco...I thought I'd lost you."

The danger finally passed, the two friends could not help it. Tears broke free from their eyes, laced with both relief and fear.

Marco put his good arm around Star and hugged her back. "I...I was gone...but...but you..."

Star squeezed him tighter. "I got you, Marco...I got you."

**SVTFOE discussion:**

**Let's talk about Princess Pony Head. **

**I wanted to include as many characters from the show in this story as I could, but some I just can't find a place for. (At least not yet) But Pony Head is a pretty darn main recurring character, and if I was going to have Tom and Janna, I felt like Pony Head should be in the story, too. **

**However, a floating unicorn head doesn't exactly mesh well with the Star Wars lexicon. Also, if I'm being totally honest, I'm not a big fan of Pony Head and I really doubt I could successfully write dialogue for her. So, I figured, hey, many, many Star Wars stories, whether they be movies, tv shows, video games, or comics have a droid main character. What if I just made Pony Head an astromech droid with a horn? Then I could include her in the story AND have the benefit of not having to write dialogue for her! Win-win! **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I was really, really happy with how this chapter came out. Let me know what you think!**

**More to come soon!**


	8. Rest and Recuperate

**I really thought this chapter was going to be delayed because Chapter 12 required an extensive rewrite (as I've mentioned before, I'm trying to stay four chapters ahead) but somehow I managed to finish writing Chapter 12 "on time" (in quotations because I'm not adhering to any kind of schedule, it just so happened that almost every chapter so far has gone up on Sunday night) regardless of the fact that Chapter 12 is quite a bit longer than any other chapter I've written thus far, so...go figure. **

**To my knowledge, it has never once been spoken in any Star Wars movie or tv show, but I have seen it in a number of Star Wars novels, so before you reach it in this chapter and become confused (like I was the first time I ran across it) let me address it now:**

**In the Star Wars universe, bathrooms are called "refreshers", sometimes shortened to "'fresher."**

**Now you know. **

Coruscant's industrial district stretches on for many kilometers, the entire area a tangled web of pipes, cables, conduits, and walkways amidst the various facilities. A good deal of it is entirely automated. Some of the massive facilities are but remnants left behind by out-of-business companies, leaving large areas completely void of any kind of activity.

And, if you can find a spot to land, that makes it a great place to hide out.

Janna was familiar with one such place, just barely large enough to squeeze her YV-560 light freighter into. The landing pad had once been where tankers would arrive to unload raw liquid Malastare fuel for processing, but the company had moved off-world and left the bulk of their equipment behind. Now, hidden inside a structure that housed long-silent syphoning equipment, it was basically free parking that could not be seen from the air. With all systems except for the interior lights powered down, the_Raventalon _was all but invisible.

Marco was unconscious. The ship's medical kit didn't have any pain killers, and since his leg was going to require some further attention and the medkit did contain a sedative that would knock him out, that's what Star and Tom had chosen to do. When he'd lost consciousness, they carried Marco into Tom's quarters and gently laid him on the bunk.

Once Janna had landed the ship, she joined them.

"Okay, what's the damage?" Janna asked as she briskly walked in.

"Marco got shot in the back of the right leg," Star quickly explained.

Janna snatched the medical kit from Tom's hands and set it on the foot of the bunk. "Lucky for you, I've dealt with blaster wounds before and they really aren't that bad as long as they haven't hit anything vital. Good call knocking him out, by the way. I would have done the same."

"I can help," Star said. "I had a few Force-healing lessons as part of my Jedi training."

"Excellent," Jana said drolly as she pulled on a pair of gloves. She handed a second pair to Star. "Let's get to work."

"Anything I can do?" asked Tom.

"Yeah, go watch the scanners with Pony Head and make sure no one tracked us here."

"Oh...I meant, like-"

"I know what you meant. Go watch the scanners. Be ready to take off in a hurry if anyone finds us."

Tom was about to protest, but simply sighed and said, "Alright," and left the room.

Twenty minutes later, Janna threw off her gloves. "Okay. That'll do."

"He'll be okay, won't he?" Star asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine. He just needs rest. Come on, let's leave him be." Janna strolled out of the room, leaving Star alone with her unconscious best friend.

"Oh, Marco," Star whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bunk beside him. She stroked his hair and found it gritty, speckled with duracrete dust from when the skywalk was blown up by the rocket launcher, and flecks of metal debris from the exploded gunship. _Yikes, if there's this much junk in Marco's hair, I can only imagine how much is in mine, _she thought, thinking of her own long, blonde hair that reached down to her legs.

For a few minutes, she sat with Marco, gently stroking his hair. Then she sighed and stood up, figuring she should rejoin Janna and Tom. She paused at the door as she left, turning to look at Marco one last time. "I..." She whispered only loud enough for herself to hear, but left the thought unfinished and switched off the lights before closing the door, leaving Marco still unconscious, the scorched area of his leg covered with a carefully applied bacta patch and wrapped in gauze.

Tom and Janna were in the galley when Star found them. Janna was washing her hands, and Tom was sitting backwards on a chair, munching on a piece of bright blue fruit that Star did not recognize.

"There you are!" Tom said. He noticed the dejection on Star's face. "You doing okay?"

Star let out a long exhale. "Yeah, I'm okay. Pretty tired, I haven't slept since last night and now the sun is coming up."

"Well, you can rest now," Tom said.

Janna threw the towel she was drying her hands on over the side of the sink. "Not yet, you can't. Not until you tell us what the heck is going on."

"Yeah." Star rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess I probably should...fill you in. Gosh, I don't even know where to start."

Janna folded her arms and leaned back against the bulkhead. "Pick a place, Star."

"Um...okay." Star took a deep breath and then began talking as fast as she possibly could. "Anakin Skywalker and an entire legion of clones marched on the Jedi Temple and started killing everyone so Marco and I escaped by cutting a hole in the wall and jumping out onto a gunship and then they started shooting at us and neither one of us knows how to fly so we didn't get very far before they hit us and we crashed, and then we got some new clothes to make us look less like Jedi and then we went to the Senate building to try to find my Aunt Eclipsa and ask her for help getting off Coruscant but Marco felt a disturbance in the Force, it was really weird, so we went upstairs to the Chancellor's office and it turns out that Palpatine is actually a Sith Lord and he's been controlling both sides of the Clone War as a plot to get rid of all the Jedi and he took Master Skywalker as his new apprentice." Completely out of breath, Star sucked as much air into her lungs as she could and went on. "So then we had a really harrowing escape from the Senate building and I stole a guy's commlink to contact you guys to see if you could help us get off-world, but I guess he must have had some way of tracking his commlink or something and he found us and chased us and then he shot at me and I had to block the shot with my lightsaber and some clone troopers saw me do it so they started shooting at us, too, and then we ran and they chased us and one of them shot Marco in the back of the leg, oh, and at some point he dislocated his shoulder for, like, the third time tonight, maybe fourth, I've honestly lost count, and then he couldn't walk so we hid inside that kiosk on the skywalk and then you guys showed up and saved us and here we are."

Janna and Tom stared blankly at Star as the Padawan caught her breath, unsure what to even do with the story they'd just been told.

Janna put a hand on her temple in confusion. "So...wait-"

"What's this about Palpatine being a Sith Lord?" Tom yelped.

"Yup. And a realllllllly powerful one, too."

"No kidding! He has control of the Senate _and_ the Courts!"

Star blinked. "I...I meant...like...his Force-powers...are really...powerful...but, yeah, I guess that, too."

Janna kicked a chair over to Star and sat down in one herself, leaning back and casually folding her arms. "Honestly, it seems obvious in retrospect."

Star and Tom both frowned. "It does?" Star asked as she sat down

"Sure. I read articles on the holonet about Palpatine. Apparently, he's got a whole bunch of Sith artifacts in his office, and he decorated it like the Sith used to decorate their Temples."

Star gave a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, sure. And the Jedi who were in his office alllll the time like Yoda and Mace Windu never noticed."

"They did. Apparently, they just didn't think anything of it." She looked off somewhere in the corner at nothing in particular. "Honestly, I don't think the members of that dumb Order you're a part of are...were...very smart."

Normally, Star would have agreed. In the past, she had often vented about her frustration with all of the Jedi's rules when she spent time with Janna. Having just watched Kit Fisto sacrifice himself to save her and Marco, however, she didn't appreciate Janna's comment very much. Conflicting feelings developed a reply that neither agreed nor disagreed with her friend. "Well, there is no Jedi Order anymore," she said, and that's where she left it.

Janna let out an exasperated sigh, not seeming to notice Star's annoyance. "Probably for the best, if you ask me."

Tom watched Star's face contorting in aggravation and thought perhaps he'd better change the subject before the conversation went any further. "So, uh, Star, you said you and Marco were trying to get off-world. Did you have a destination in mind? We'd be happy to take you."

Star shook her head. "We never even had a chance to talk about where we'd go."

"Well, we'll be safe here for a little while. We've hidden out here a couple of times. Right, Janna?"

"Uh-huh. Hardly anyone even knows this place exists. We'll be safe." She stood up. "Why don't you get some sleep? Wait for Marco to regain consciousness. Then you guys can pick a system and we'll make sure you get there."

"Sleep does sound...good." Now that the constant adrenaline that had been circulating through her system had worn off, Star was beginning to feel the beckoning of slumber.

"I'll get you a blanket and see if I can find you something to lay on," Tom said.

"Uh...I...I think I'll just..." Star's gaze drifted in the general direction of Tom's quarters.

Tom smiled. "I think Marco would appreciate the company."

Star blushed and stood up. "I'll, uh, see you guys after I get some sleep, I guess." She started to leave, but stopped halfway through the door and backtracked. "Oh, and...thank you guys so, so much for coming to rescue us. We'd for sure be dead right now if you hadn't come."

"Hey, don't mention it, St-*hurk!*" Tom gasped as Star gave him a crushing hug.

Then she turned to Janna. "Hey, I'm glad we just happened to be here when you needed us," Janna said. Star gave her a hug, too, but not nearly as hard or as long, still a little bit salty about Janna's comments about the Jedi Order.

Then Star headed for the door again. "Well, goodnight...or, good morning at this point."

Tom and Janna chuckled and each took a turn saying goodnight, then Star left the galley.

"Well, Lucy," Janna said standing up and stretching, "We should probably get some shut eye, too, after that long haul from Felucia and subsequent rescue mission."

"You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Why do you think I do it? Now come on, I can't have a sleepy copilot."

"Well, seeing as how my bunk is currently in use..."

"Mine isn't."

"But then where are you gonna sleep?"

"Next to you," Janna said as if it should have been the most obvious fact ever.

"...I think I'll sleep in the cargo hold." Tom stood and made quickly for the door.

Janna shrugged. "Suit yourself, but you're missing out."

Tom froze, afraid to even ask. "...on what?"

"On my bunk. It's really comfortable."

Tom stared for a moment longer, trying to read the unreadable expression on Captain Ordonia's face. "I...am going...to sleep...in the cargo hold."

"Whatever." When her copilot had gone, Janna smiled to herself. She relished the chance to make others uncomfortable, especially Tom and Marco, and she felt a rush of satisfaction for a job well done.

Before heading off to bed, Janna made her way to the cockpit where PY-HD was still monitoring the scanners. "Still all-clear, Pony Head?"

The droid replied, sounding very bored.

"I don't care if your bored, keep me posted." PY-HD complained noisily as Janna leaned over the controls and looked out the forward view screen, her eyes looking over the sky outside the roof of the fuel siphoning station. "If they find us, we're trapped here, so I sure hope you stay bored."

* * *

Star crept quietly back into Tom's quarters. Marco hadn't moved since she'd left. For a few moments, she stood beside the bunk, watching his chest rise and fall as he slowly breathed. She kicked off her boots and placed the bag containing her lightsaber inside one and one end of her horn headband in the other, then gingerly climbed over Marco to the empty space on the bunk beside him. Laying on her back, Star let out a sigh.

_Maybe I should have told him I wanted to leave the order sooner,_ she thought as she looked over at his sleeping face. _We would have been far away from Coruscant by now and Marco wouldn't have gotten hurt._

_Woulda, shoulda, coulda, I guess._

_At least no one will be wondering where we disappeared to...because there's no one still alive to notice that we're gone._

_You know, except the guy who wants us dead._

Star rolled onto her side facing Marco, watching her best friend's chest continue to rise and fall. She felt considerably more calm just knowing that he was alive and right there beside her, and in a few minutes, her exhaustion overtook her emotions and she fell asleep.

* * *

_There were screams. Lots of them. Blaster fire. A small explosion_ _in the distance. Everything around her was a blur...or maybe it actually just was blurry._

_"Star!" A familiar voice was calling out to her, one she knew very well, and yet, she could not quite place its owner._

_"Star! We have to go, Star!"_

_Someone took her hand, but she could not see who it was. They were trying to lead her somewhere._

_In the distance, there was a shriek of terror, suddenly cut short._

* * *

Star abruptly awoke from her dream. Marco was still asleep beside her, breathing steadily.

_What was that about? _She sat up and looked around the dim room as if checking to be sure that everything was still as it should be, and found nothing she could see out of place. She laid back down for a minute, but sprang back up when she realized that she desperately needed to use the refresher.

* * *

Star rinsed her hands off in the sink, and splashed some water on her face. A few crumbs of rubble fell from her hair into the sink and she remembered all the debris she had found in Marco's hair earlier. When she'd dried her hands and face, she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair. As she expected, it was not it's usual silky self. It was full of grit from her various adventures the past night. She happened a glance in the mirror. Star had nearly forgotten about crashing the gunship into the fountain and ending up soaked to the skin, and her messy and frizzy locks reminded her.

"Bleh..."

There was a storage compartment beside the mirror, and Star found an elaborate comb made from a some sort of mollusk shell inside. A few strands of red hair in it told her it was Tom's, and Star thought to herself that she was not surprised. She grabbed it and leaned her head over into the shower stall. For almost ten minutes, she ran the comb through her hair, the shower pan gaining a thin layer of duracrete dust and a few specs of metal debris in the process. When she ran her fingers through her hair and didn't feel any grit, she rinsed off the comb and returned it to the storage compartment, and then rinsed the shower pan, too.

Now Star was wide awake. She wasn't sure how long she had slept and sure didn't feel like going back to sleep, so she wandered up to the cockpit so that she could see outside.

The _Raventalon_'s cockpit was fairly spacious as cockpits go, with a second set of two seats behind the pilot and copilot's chairs. On the ship's port side was a terminal with an astromech access port.

Star's eyes lit up when she saw the droid plugged into the computer. "Pony Head!"

PY-HD's head swiveled around and the droid squealed excitedly, disconnecting from the terminal and bouncing up and down as it raced over to Star. Star dropped to her knees to be at the droid's height and wrapped her arms around it as affectionately as she would any of her flesh-and-blood friends. "It's so good to see you!"

The droid continued to chitter on happily.

"I know! It has been too long!"

Questioning beeps came next. Star ceased her hug and folded her arms. "Pony," she said scoldingly, "you promised you would stop calling Marco that. It isn't nice."

The droid gave a shrill bloop in apologetic reply, but Star didn't think it sounded very sincere. She nonetheless answered PY-HD's question. "Yes, Marco is here with me. We had to knock him out to treat his injuries, and he's still asleep."

*Whistle bleep-bop?*

"Oh, you know, the Chancellor turned out to be a Sith Lord, ordered all the Jedi killed, so we're just trying to get off Coruscant. You know how it is."

The droid almost seemed to laugh.

Star stood up from the floor and strolled over to the copilot's seat, hoping to be able to judge the time by the sun, but her view outside was obstructed by the structure the _Raventalon _was hiding beneath and though she could see blue sky, the sun's position was behind her where she could not see. She sat down and scanned over the dark control panel. Most of the ship's systems had been powered down to keep scanners from picking it up, but she did find a chronometer that was still lit. It was early afternoon. She'd slept for at least seven hours.

"Oh, Pony..." Star said. "What are we gonna do?"

*Boop boop bleep. Bzzt rrt wee-oop.*

"I mean, I guess that could work, but growing a clone of myself to fake my own death with just isn't really practical."

"Plus you'd feel bad." Star looked toward the voice and found Marco standing in the cockpit doorway. "Even with the accelerated growth of clones, you'd still have to raise it, and probably train it so that it would be convincing, all the while knowing it was eventually going to be shot full of holes."

Star rushed to her best friend and wrapped him in a hug, nearly knocking him over.

"That happy to see me?"

"I knew you'd be fine, but...I just...I'm really glad you're okay." She released him. "How's the leg?"

"Sore. Very sore. I can walk on it, it just hurts. I've got a decent limp."

"That's cool."

"My shoulder is still dislocated, though."

"Drat, I knew I forgot something. I even mentioned it to Janna and Tom when I was telling them about everything that happened to us last night, and I didn't even think to fix your shoulder." She raised her hands. "Here, hold still." Star raised her hands.

"Nononowai-AAAARRRRRGH!" Marco cried as Star used the Force to pop his arm back into its socket. He gave a small whimper in pain. "I really wish you had done that when I was still unconscious."

"Well, if I ever dislocate anything, you can have the honor of popping it back in and making me scream in pain."

"Deal."

A second later, Janna and Tom appeared in the doorway. "I knew I heard Marco screaming," Janna said. "Oh, good, you two are together."

"Hey, Janna," Marco greeted. "Thanks for patching me up."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever. Shut up. Look." She produced a small holoviewer where a news broadcast was streaming and held it up for Star and Marco to see. They could see an interior shot of the Senate chamber as a broadcaster talked over the video recording.

_"...again, for those of you who may have missed it, an important message from Sheev Palpatine this morning on the current state and future of the galactic government. Here is a recording of the historic speech."_

A close up recording of Palpatine appeared. He stood at his usual spot at the center podium of the Senate chamber, a dark red hood shielding anyone from seeing the deformed face that Star and Marco knew to be underneath.

His voice echoing through the loudspeaker system, he spoke. _"The Jedi rebellion has been foiled." _A loud round of applause followed.

"Rebellion?!" Marco whispered angrily.

_"The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated!" _More applause.

"'Hunted down?'," Tom echoed.

"I think he means us," Star said.

"Shut up!" Janna scolded. "Listen!"

_"The attempt on my life has left me scarred...and deformed. But I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger!"_There was another round of applause. _"The war is over. The Separatists have been defeated and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled! We stand on the threshold of a new beginning!"_

The four young friends hung on every word, hardly daring to breathelest they prevent a single one of Palpatine's words from being heard.

_"In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire!" _His words were met with excited applause. _  
_

"Did anyone else just get a chill?" Star asked.

"Empire?" Marco said nervously. "Like...ruled by an Emperor?"

For several minutes more, they listened as Palpatine laid out his plan for a completely new government, one that gave him most of the power. He closed with, "_The New Order of peace has triumphed over the shadowy secrecy of shamful magicians. The direction of our course is clear. I will lead the Empire to glories beyond imagination._

_"We have been tested, but we have emerged stronger. We moved forward as one people - the Imperial citizens of the first Galactic Empire. We will prevail. Ten thousand years of peace begins today."_

Janna turned off the holoviewer. There was a general feeling of somberness in the _Raventalon_'s cockpit.

"So..." Tom began slowly. "No more Republic."

"And no more Jedi Order," Marco added.

Janna sank into the chair behind the pilot's seat. "So...what do we do?"

Everyone, including PY-HD, looked at Star.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

"You're the only one who hasn't said anything yet," Marco said with a shrug.

Tom added, "Plus, whenever the four of us were together in the past, you always sort of assumed the role of unofficial leader." He shrugged. "Or at least I thought so."

Marco put a hand on her shoulder. "You are a princess, after all."

Star looked at each of her friends. They waited for her to speak with hopeful eyes.

She sighed. "Right now, the most important thing is getting somewhere safe. As much as I hate to do it, right now, we don't have a choice.

"We run."


	9. The Plan and the Pain

Marco fitfully awoke, his eyelids heavy, and immediately wished he were still asleep. He groaned as he rolled over from his back onto his side, trying to find a position that was more comfortable, but he felt slightly dizzy, and as he flipped over onto his other side, no direction he faced felt better. He turned over onto his stomach and wiggled his arms under the pillow, hoping that would be less uncomfortable. Something cold and hard beneath the pillow bumped his wrist and his fingers almost instinctively wrapped around it. It was his lightsaber.

Kit Fisto's lightsaber.

_Master..._

Marco's eyes clenched shut harder, his teeth grit together, his fingers squeezing the lightsaber hilt as if he were trying to snap it in two.

The blanket covering him flew off as Marco tossed it roughly aside, sitting up quickly, no longer sleepy, and hopping to his feet.

The cabin door slid open, revealing Star carrying a bottle of water. "Good morning, Marco!" she said cheerfully. "Oh, you're up! How does your leg feel this morning?"

Marco felt dizzy again. He almost thought he might pass out, so he sat down on the bunk again. "I...uh...good morning, Star. My leg..." His mind felt fuzzy, and he found it hard to form a complete thought. "...my leg feels...okay, I guess."

Star came over and sat down beside him. "How come you got your lightsaber there?" she asked, pointing to the weapon in his hand.

"Huh?" Marco looked at it, wondering why the hand he was holding it with ached. "I...had it under my pillow...and I...didn't want to forget it."

Star gave him a quizzical look, confused by his broken sentences. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just..." He put a hand to his temple. "I woke up with a bad headache."

Star offered the bottle in her hand to him. "Here, drink some water." He did, and slowly sucked down about half the contents. "You'll probably feel better after some breakfast."

"Yeah..." Marco wiped his mouth and handed the bottle back to Star. "Probably. Thanks, Star."

"No problem. C'mon, let's get you something to eat."

Marco put his arm around Star. "Okay..."

She looked at him again as he leaned his head on her shoulder. "Marco? You okay?" she asked once more.

"I'm fine. It's just...it's been a rough couple of days, you know..." He took a deep breath. "It's just...makes me feel...better...you being here."

Star smiled and returned Marco's half-hug, and they quietly sat for a few moments, just thankful for the fact that, after all they'd been through, they were still together.

* * *

A red-cloaked Imperial guard slowly entered Palpatine's private office and addressed the Emperor. "Lord Sideous, the one who's presence you requested has arrived."

From behind his desk, Sidious smiled. "Good...send her in."

The guard bowed and strode out of the office. A moment later, another being entered the room, clad in a dark tunic with a black cloak. The being's hands were concealed by leather gloves, and a black helmet hid its face. Though its feet were clad in heavy boots, it's footsteps were light and nearly silent. It knelt down in front of the Emperor, a synthetic voice emitting from the helmet. "My Lord. I have come as you've requested."

Sidious stood from his desk chair and strolled casually around to the one kneeling before him. For a moment, he just stared, scrutinizing his compatriot. "Do you know why you are here?"

"No."

Sidious squinted. "Address your Master with the proper respect."

"I don't know why I'm here, my Lord." The reply was dripping was sarcasm.

Sidious did not have time to reprimand such arrogance, so he ignored it. "I am sure you know that my new apprentice, Lord Vader, has been tasked with hunting down the remaining Jedi and is currently searching for a team of inquisitors to aid him."

"Yes, my Lord. I did know that, my Lord. I thought I was to be a part of that team of inquisitors, my Lord."

"Alright, that's enough. Indeed, you will be. But I have a very special task that I need completed, and I want you to personally oversee it's completion." Sidious took a step back to his desk, reached over and activated the holoprojector. It produced the images of a pair of teenagers, floating in the air above the desk. "I want you to hunt down and execute these two Padawans."

The inquisitor shifted slightly. "Padawans? That's it? Waste of my skills if you ask me."

Sidious narrowed his eyes. "Do not question my orders. If your talents live up to my expectations, this should be quite an easy assignment." He switched off the holoprojector and removed the data card, which he handed to the inquisitor. Then Sidious pointed toward the door. "Now go. Do not show your face here again until your assignment is complete."

Beneath the helmet, the inquisitor scowled. "Yes, my Lord," it said begrudgingly.

And the inquisitor left the office, thinking _Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz...what could possibly be so special about those two twerps that Sidious wants *me* to kill them?_

* * *

Tom steered the speeder bike into the _Raventalon_'s hiding spot, hopping off as it slowed to a stop. Star was sitting on the boarding ramp with Pony Head, watching Marco pace back and forth from one side of the abandoned off-loading bay to the other. It had been three rotations since Marco had been shot in the leg, and, at Star's instruction, he had been alternating between resting his leg and walking on it to rehabilitate it. In between, Star would use what Force-healing techniques she had learned to help speed up the healing.

"Hey, Marco!" Tom called as he walked the speeder bike toward the boarding ramp. "Looks like you're walking a lot better! Doesn't look like you're limping at all."

Marco jogged over to the others, seemingly completely back to normal save for the patch on his trouser leg. "Yeah! My leg feels great! Thanks to Star, anyway." He smiled at her.

"Pssshh," she scoffed, waving her arm in denial. "I barely did anything. A blaster wound to the leg really isn't that hard to heal."

"Oh, I don't know. I think your Force-healing really made the difference."

"Oh...well, thanks, Marco." Star blushed slightly and looked away. PY-HD made a sarcastic sounding series of beeps that no one seemed to pay any attention to.

Marco addressed Tom again. "So, how'd it go? Were you successful?"

"I think so. The first part was easy." Tom let go of the speeder bike and it hovered in place as he fished into the pocket of his leather jacket and produced a pair of commlinks. "A commlink for each of you."

"Sweet!" Marco said, taking his.

Tom handed Star hers. "I thought you'd probably like this one." It was the same as Marco's but it was lavender in color and had a reflective polished surface.

"Ooh, sparkley!"

"As for the other part- Hey, where's Janna?"

"Right here." Janna suddenly appeared at the top of the boarding ramp, missing her hat and jacket and wiping her hands on a rag. "Tom, guess what? I finally got around to replacing that leaking thermal seal."

"That's great! Only took you four months to get around to it."

Janna strolled down to the others. "Well, I finally had the time, you know, since we're stuck here." She tossed the rag aside. "Speaking of which, how'd it go?"

"It went pretty well, I think." He pulled his datapad from the bag he wore over his shoulder. "The results, though, are uh..." He tapped the datapad. "Well, I made diagrams. Let's go in and put them up on the holo so we can all see."

"Sounds good." Janna headed back up the ramp, and her four companions followed, with Tom bringing up the rear as he walked the speeder bike back inside.

"Can we get snacks for the holo viewing?" Marco asked.

"Ooooh." Star rubbed her belly. "Snacks sound good. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

Star put her arm around Marco's shoulders as they walked. "It's a gift."

They chuckled as Janna stopped at the top of the ramp and waited for the two Jedi and PY-HD to pass. When Tom came up with the speeder bike, she whispered to him, pointing over her shoulder at Star and Marco. "I'm not just imagining things, right?"

"Oh, no, I noticed it, too. Those two are totally head-over-heels for each other."

Janna looked back at them as they disappeared around a corner en route to the galley. "If we weren't in such dire straights, I'd really have some fun messing with them."

Tom sighed as he pushed the speeder bike off to the side and locked it down. "Not that I'm encouraging you to screw with our friends who, may I remind you, are not allowed to have feelings for anyone, let alone each other, because they're Jedi, but when has any kind of danger ever stopped you from messing with anyone?"

Janna grinned evilly. "You make some good points, Lucy." And she scurried off in pursuit of her friends before her copilot had a chance to say anything else.

Tom roughly wiped his hand down his face in frustration. "I really shouldn't have said that."

* * *

Tom removed the data card from his datapad and held it out. "Here you go, Pony." The astromech came forward toward him and allowed Tom to insert the disk into a slot just below its domed head. A moment later, the holoprojector beside its radar eye illuminated and the crew lounge of the _Raventalon _was filled with a holographic map of the Coruscanti sky, complete with ships that glided back and forth in their patrol grids.

From her spot on one end of a small, curved couch, Janna looked over the map while Star and Marco noisily crunched on some Naboo Spud-Crisps beside her. Her mind was thinking up ways to awkwardly force them together just as much as it was focused on the map. "So what did you find?" she asked.

"The Republic...er, Imperial now, I guess...the Imperial Army has really tightened up its security. Every ship coming into the system must stop and be inspected before it can enter the atmosphere, and the same goes for every ship leaving," Tom explained. "More ships patrolling to make sure no one sneaks through their checkpoints, too."

"So can't Star and I just hide in the smuggler's hold?" Marco asked. "And just go through the checkpoint inspection like any other ship?"

"You're forgetting that the _Raventalon _was responsible for shooting down a Repu- Uh, Imperial gunship," Janna reminded him. "This ship is marked now. They've probably got orders to shoot us down the instant anyone spots us."

"Yeah," Tom agreed. "And, not that it matters, but even if we could go through the checkpoint, they'd just pick up two extras life forms on board with their scans."

Marco pursed his lips. "Oh."

"Soooooo...how do we get out then?" asked Star.

Tom started pointing to the different holograms of ships gliding slowly around the map. "The patrols always follow the same routes and they adhere to very strict timetables for where they're supposed to be when."

Marco brushed some crumbs off his hoodie. "That should make it easy to find a place where they might have a gap we can sneak through," he said.

"Well, yeah, it does..." Tom sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I've already analyzed their patrol grids and..." He sighed. "They do not leave any part of surrounding space unchecked for long."

"How long we talking here?" Janna asked as she slid over a little closer to the center of the couch, forcing Star to move over a tiny bit closer to Marco.

"The best gap I was able to find is right here." Tom pointed to a small spot on the map which was highlighted in green. "These coordinates will be completely out of surveillance for about...21 seconds."

"Yikes. And that's just physical eyes on the sky," Janna reminded him, pretending to slide over once again in order to see something on the map more closely and forcing Star to move over so that she was just barely not touching Marco. "They'll pick us up on the scanners way before then."

"I know. But it's the biggest gap we have to work with."

Marco leaned forward to see the map better, which Janna noticed actually caused him to nudge up against Star. Neither made any kind of attempt to stop touching. If anything, Star appeared to lean over on him. "So how do we make it past the patrols and far enough from Coruscant's gravity well to jump to hyperspace without being detected?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and then addressed Janna. "I know the planet's gravity will pull us back out of hyperspace, but is there any chance we could make a jump through that gap before gravity pulls us back into real space?"

"Maybe if this was a fighter, or if we had a lower class hyperdrive, but as it is now, I don't think we'd get more than a couple meters before we got sucked back into real space."

"And I'm guessing there's no way we could just, like, soup up the sublight engines to go faster, right?" Star asked.

"Oh, sure we could. It would be easy," Tom said, taking a seat on a chair beside PY-HD across from his friends. "If we had raw hyperfuel."

"Mm, that would be easy," Janna agreed. She leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms. "One little squirt of raw liquid coaxium into the fusion reactor and we'd probably get enough of a kick to shoot through that gap before they even had a chance to react to us on the scanner."

Star looked hopeful and rather proud of herself for coming up with a good idea. "Okay, so where on Coruscant can we get raw hyperfuel?"

"You don't. Raw coaxium is extremely unstable. It's really, really hard to store for any length of time," explained Janna.

Tom went on. "Yup. Goes from wherever its extracted directly to the refinery before it decays and, you know, explodes. Raw coaxium never gets anywhere near Coruscant."

Star leaned over and rested her head in her hands. "Well, so much for that idea."

"So much for the raw coaxium, yes..." Janna began thoughtfully. "...but maybe not the idea of souping up the sublight engines."

The expression on Janna's face caught Tom's attention: slight smile, half-closed eyes all-but concealing a gleam of inspiration. "Janna, I can practically hear the gears turning in your head. What are you thinking and how much am I not gonna like it?"

"Oh, you're gonna love it," she said slyly.

"I highly doubt that."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense here!" Star urged.

"Yeah, Janna!" Marco agreed, leaning against Star to get in Captain Ordonia's line of sight. "Fill us in!"

Even PY-HD twittered an impatient urge.

Janna waited just a second more to keep her friends in suspense a little longer and then said, "The backup hyperdrive."

Tom lowered his eyes. "I already hate it."

"We can use the backup hyperdrive to assist the sublight engines."

Marco raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "How, exactly?"

"You guys don't know how a hyperdrive works, do you?" Janna asked of the two Padawans.

They both shook their heads.

"Okay, so..." Janna shifted position towards them on the couch and prepared for a lengthy explanation. She also made sure to give Star as little room as possible so that the blonde-haired girl would be forced to remain squished up against Marco. "It takes a lot of power to jump to hyperspace since you're basically shifting to another dimension. Inside the hyperdrive are windings of superconductive wire that create an intensely powerful electrical field. When that field is focused through the coaxium core by the hyperdrive motivator, the coaxium gives off enough radiation to power the lightspeed thrusters and accelerate the ship past the speed of light, and once you do, you shift dimensions into hyperspace. With me so far?"

Star and Marco stared at her blankly. "Uhhhhhhh..."

"Okay, so what I'm thinking is, instead of passing the supercharged electrical current through the coaxium core, what if we routed it into the fusion reactor stator?"

"Yeah, we're gonna need an explanation of that, too," Star said.

"You guys really need to get out more," Janna sighed. "The fusion reactor has a stator that rotates around the outside to draw fuel into the reactor as it burns off. The faster the stator turns, the quicker the reactor can burn fuel. The stator is spun by an electric motor, so if we feed the motor a super-high current from the windings of the backup hyperdrive..." She trailed off and waited for either Marco or Star to finish the sentence.

"...then the stator rotates more rapidly...?" Marco said slowly.

"...and then the ship goes faster?" Star finished.

"Now you're gettin' it."

"I think you're overlooking a major problem, though," said Tom. "If you start feeding that motor too much current, you'll burn it up, and the hyperdrive makes a _lot_ of current. And the bearings that the stator spins on were only meant to spin so fast. You get that stator spinning too fast, you'll cook the bearings, too. Then we'll have no power whatsoever."

"I didn't forget about that. The stator motor I'm not worried about. It's pretty beefy, and it only has to withstand the current for probably less than 15 seconds. The bearings, though, would probably melt in that amount of time, but I figure if we're gonna route power from the hyperdrive to the fusion reactor, we can route power to the lubrication pump that feeds those bearings, too. If the pump gives more output, that'll keep the bearings cool."

Tom thought for a moment. "It's gonna be really dangerous taking the backup hyperdrive apart to do all this. That's my only other concern. You wire something wrong and suddenly the ship implodes."

Janna shrugged. "Well, the way I see it, we either die trying to escape the planet or we live long enough for them to find us and execute us." She turned back to Star and Marco. "You guys agree?"

The two Padawans, who were still leaning against one another, made eye contact. "She has a point," Star said.

"Yeah. I guess there isn't really a point being afraid of dying by escape attempt when they're probably already trying to hunt us down and kill us." Marco slowly took Star's hand. She squeezed his hand back and slowly nodded at him. Marco looked past his best friend at Janna. "Let's do it."

Janna clapped her hands together excitedly. "Alright! Let's get dangerous!"

PY-HD started beeping indignantly from across the room as the droid switched off her holoprojector and the map disappeared.

"What'd she say?" Marco asked.

"She wants to know why no one asked if she was okay with the plan."

The droid beeped again.

"Now she says 'Just kidding, my memory is backed up, I'll just download into another body if we all blow up.'" Janna frowned. "Gee, thanks Pony."

The droid chittered something that sounded like laughter and rolled out of the room. Star chuckled. "Ah, classic Pony Head."

Tom got to his feet. "Alright, Janna. What do we need to pull this off?"

"Well, I can't route all that electrical current through the _Raventalon_'s system. It wasn't meant to take that much current and it'll probably either melt the power cables or set them on fire...or both, I guess. So we'll have to get our hands on some really heavy gauge power cable that I can hook up directly to both the backup hyperdrive and the fusion reactor."

"There's gotta be some pretty heavy cable somewhere around here," Marco said. "We are in the middle of an abandoned fuel refinery, after all."

"Good idea, Marco." Janna stood, too. "It's getting kinda late and I'm hungry, so what do you say we make some dinner and in the morning, you two can go search around for some suitable power cable while me and Tom start taking the backup hyperdrive apart."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Star jumped to her feet excitedly, still holding Marco's hand as she did. "Especially the dinner part. I'm starving."

"Seriously, Star." Marco shook his head with a chuckle. "Always thinking about food."

"Oh, quit it," Star laughed. "Let's go!" And she roughly dragged Marco out of the crew lounge, heading for the galley.

Janna waggled her eyebrows at Tom. "Did you see what I did there? And it seems to have worked pretty well."

Tom shook his head. "You're evil."

"Why, thank you. C'mon, I'm hungry, too."

* * *

The thin metal of the walkway clanged with every step as Star and Marco crossed it. They had started their search for some heavy gauge power cable at mid-morning and had come up empty handed in three different structures of the abandoned fuel refinery. Now they were making the trek across the bridge to check their fourth building of the day as morning became afternoon.

The walkway was narrow, and did not really allow enough space for the two Padawans to walk side-by-side, so Marco led while Star lagged a few steps behind. Her thoughts were chewing on her mind, and she was debating whether or not to say anything at all.

"Hey, Marco?"

"Yeah, Star?"

"How...how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine. My leg feels good as new."

"That's not what I meant."

Marco stopped walking and turned around, a quizzical expression on his face. "Then what do you mean?"

Star took a deep breath. "Like...emotionally?"

He shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I mean...you..." Star fumbled over her words. "We both haven't had a chance to really...mourn...Master Fisto. I honestly thought you would have brought it up by now-"

"I'm fine."

"I mean, I know kind of a lot has been going on, but-"

"I said I'm fine, Star." Marco quickly started walking again before she had a chance to continue.

"You seem less fine now than when I brought it up..." Star whispered to herself.

Presently, they reached the end of the walkway where it met a platform that stretched in either direction around the massive industrial building it was attached to. A door leading into the building was directly in front of them.

Marco pressed the button on the activation panel, but, as Star had come to expect from their earlier exploration, the door was locked. They had gained access to the other three buildings they had already searched by lightsabering their way through the door. _  
_

Star expected Marco to cut through this door, too. What she was not expecting was for the door to suddenly bend down the center and pop out of its track, falling over into the building and hitting the floor with a crash that echoed through the vacant building filled with large pieces of silent machinery.

"Oh, look, this building was the machine shop," Marco said calmly as Star gaped in surprise. "I bet we'll find some good heavy duty power cable in here."

Star still said nothing, standing in the doorway as Marco ventured into the building, unable to process that Marco seemed to have just ripped out the door with the Force without even trying. "Uhhhhhh..."

Presently, she gained back her composure enough to catch up with her best friend. She found him crouched down beside a massive automated welding machine. "Ah, here we go. Star, check out the power cable on this thing!"

Star had to agree, it was definitely the heaviest gauge power cable they had come across: easily as big around as her neck. "Yeah, yeah, that's great," she said simply, her mind not entirely present.

Marco ignited his lightsaber and carefully severed the cable from the machine. "Aw, man. This cable weighs a ton." He traced it where it ran along the wall, paced off about two dozen meters, and then cut the cable again before returning the lightsaber to his belt. "It's definitely gonna take both of us to drag this thing all the way back to the _Raventalon._"

"Yeah...totally..."

As they shlepped the heavy power cable back across the bridge, Star's mind was still wandering.

_Why did Marco seem like he got really annoyed when I brought up Master Fisto? And how the heck did he break down that door with the Force? I've never seen him do anything even close to that before._

The cable suddenly seemed to Marco like it had gotten a lot heavier. He turned around expecting to see it stuck on something, but found that Star had stopped, no longer assisting.

"Star? What are you doing?"

The cable fell from her hands. "Stopping."

"Why?"

"Because earlier you seemed like you were keeping something from me, and I want to know what's eating at you."

Marco lowered his eyes. "I told you before, I'm fine," he replied curtly.

Star stepped over the cable laying on the bridge and positioned herself right in Marco's face. "Marco, you're my best friend. In all the years we've known each other, there have never been ANY secrets between us. I KNOW something is bothering you. You know how I know? Because you're a very polite guy and you interrupted me while I was talking twice. TWICE! You have literally never done that before. Oh, not to mention, then you blew that door off with the Force and you are never that good at using the Force to do anything!"

As Star went on, Marco's expression morphed from annoyed to vaguely impressed, to rather embarrassed.

Star took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I know something is bothering you, and I know it's about Kit. You should know by now that you can tell me anything, so please..." She gently rested her hand on Marco's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Please, just talk to me."

Marco sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry, Star...you're right. We've never kept anything from each other-" _Aside from that one really, really big thing you just won't talk to her about! You know, how you're in love with her?!_

_Seriously, me? Now is not the time for that._

_Fine. But if not now, you're gonna have to do it eventually. _

"Marco?"

"Huh?"

"You, uh, kinda stopped mid-sentence there."

"Did I? What was the last thing I said?"

"You said 'We've never kept anything from each other.'"

_Aside from that one- _"Oh, right." Marco sighed again and slid underneath the railing, sitting down on the bridge so that his legs dangled off the side. He rested his arms on the horizontal center bar of the railing and leaned his head on his hands.

"Oh...okay." Star sat down beside him and mimicked his position. "So...?"

"Alright, here's the thing. I wasn't thinking about Master Fisto because, like you said, a lot was going on and it wasn't exactly a good time to break down in sorrow because it probably would have gotten us killed."

"Right, right, right."

"But then...yesterday morning, when I woke up..." Marco took the lightsaber from his belt and held the hilt in his hands. "I had this under my pillow, and when I touched it, and I remembered that I hadn't thought about Kit at all since he..." Marco closed his eyes. "...saved us." A tear escaped his left eye and snaked it's way down his cheek. "But...I didn't think about Kit. I couldn't even picture him in my mind. All I could see...was that traitorous slime Palpatine."

Star watched as more tears began flowing down Marco's face. His voice cracked as he went on, choking on sobs.

"It was Palpatine himself that murdered Kit. Not clones following orders, he did it himself. Palpatine killed my friend." He stared at his lightsaber again, squeezing the hilt so hard that his knuckles turned white. "My insides felt like they were on fire. It hurt...so badly...And I thought to myself...that it would feel so good...if I took this lightsaber and rammed it through Palpatine's heart!" he cried.

Marco's cheeks were soaked with tears. He spoke through clenched teeth. It made Star's heart ache to see her best friend in so much pain.

"I was this close...I jumped out of bed...I was ready to take off running, I was gonna run until I reached the Senate. And I wouldn't stop until I had killed that traitor."

Star swallowed hard, choking back her own emotion. "What stopped you?"

And suddenly, Marco's jaw slackened. His expression softened. He looked at Star, his brown eyes shimmering with moisture. "...You did."

"Me?"

"You walked in...and it was almost like...I forgot to be angry. The pain in my guts...the burning desire to kill Palpatine...just..." he gave his hand a wave. "...disappeared."

For several moments, the only sound was Marco sniffling as they stared out into nothingness. Otherwise, the two friends were surrounded by the deafening silence of the abandoned section of Coruscant's industrial sector.

"Why?"

Marco locked eyes with Star again. "What?"

"Why did me coming in...make the pain stop?"

_Because you love her! Because her very presence calms you and helps you focus! Because she's your best friend and the single best thing in your life! SAY SOMETHING, IDIOT!_

"Because...because you're my best friend, and..." Marco's throat felt as though it were suddenly filled with sand. Try as he may, he could not form words.

He felt a hand on his. Star was resting her arm on the railing, gently covering the back of his hand.

Marco found his voice again, but changed the subject. "I've never felt so much anger before. It was really scary, feeling so angry that I was about to let it drive my actions. So I've been avoiding thinking about Kit...which is really hard to do when I have his lightsaber on my belt all the time...because I don't want to feel like that again.

"That's why I got a little...testy...before. I didn't want to start thinking about Kit and start getting angry again." He sighed. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you."

"It's okay."

They sat in silence again for a few moments more.

"Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel now?"

Marco sniffled and wiped his face off once more. "What kind of question is that?" he said with a small chuckle.

"I mean...you were just telling me about how angry you were...but did you feel that way when you were talking about it?"

"Huh...no, not really. Upset, obviously." He brushed the tears off his cheeks. "But not really angry like I was." He met Star's eyes again. "Probably because you're here."

Star gave him a small smile. "Well...you know...I may not have ever been crazy about the idea of becoming a Jedi, but...I did really like Master Fisto. He was a lot less...stuffy...than a lot of the other council members. And he was pretty cool."

Another big tear slid down Marco's cheek, but this time it was accompanied by a little smile. "Yeah...he sure was."

"I know you miss him...I miss him, too."

"Yeah...I miss him a lot."

"If you feel okay now...it's just the two of us here...why don't we take a moment...and just...get it out of our systems? You know...pay our respects?"

Marco turned over his left hand to take Star's in his. "I'd like that." He passed Kit's lightsaber over from his other hand, taking it so that he and Star held it together between them. "You, uh...you start," Marco whispered.

Star took a deep breath, feeling more than a little choked up. "Master Fisto was the only council member who seemed like he could follow all the Jedi's rules and still managed to have fun, and for that, he had my respect. Master, wherever you are, thank you for all the time you spent hanging out with two dumb teenagers. We both learned an awful lot from you, because...you believed in both of us."

Star wiped a tear from her eye and turned to her best friend. "Marco?"

Marco sniffled, his chest convulsing as he tried to breathe past the emotions clogging his windpipe. "Master Fisto...Kit...you were my hero. I thought you were the coolest guy in the galaxy, and I wanted to be just like you. Thank you for believing in me...in both of us...even when others didn't...including ourselves. And..." Marco squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain. "...thanks for being a great friend."

For a moment, they said nothing more. Then they raised Kit's lightsaber together and Star pressed the activation plate. The emerald blade hissed to life, pointed toward the heavens.

"We promise we will not let your sacrifice be in vain," Star said. "We will carry your memory and your wise teachings with us always."

Marco nodded, his emotions holding any words he could possibly say hostage in his throat.

"Farewell, Master Fisto," Star choked out. "May the Force be with you." And then she extinguished the blade.

Tears flowing freely, Marco sobbed. Star released her grip on the lightsaber and Marco pulled it to his chest. Then she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder as tears ran down over the hearts on her cheeks.

It was quite some time before both Padawans regained their composure, and even then they did not separate, choosing instead to continue drawing comfort from each other.

Eventually, the sun began to sink low in the sky, and Star was beginning to get hungry. "We probably should be getting this power cable back to the ship. Tom and Janna will be wondering where we are."

Marco nodded. "Yeah...you're right."

They reluctantly stood up from under the railing, picked up the heavy power cable, and resumed their task of dragging it back to the _Raventalon._

* * *

"Heh heh heh." Several hundred yards away, the inquisitor lowered the binoculars, grinning beneath the mask.

"Gotcha."

**Star Wars discussion:**

**Let's talk about hyperspace travel. **

**Legends continuity has a great, in-depth explanation of how hyperspace travel works. Unfortunately, it does not include any mention of the one canonical aspect of hyperspace travel: hyperfuel, better known as the focus of ****_Solo: A Star Wars Story_****, coaxium. **

**So what am I, a humble fanfiction author, to do when faced with two conflicting ideologies? Well, I am not *just* a humble fanfiction author. I'm also an auto mechanic. So, I fabricated my own explanation of how a hyperdrive works by combining the Legends and Canon aspects of hyperspace travel along with some mechanical and electrical stuff ****that I ****thought sounded ****plausible based ****on what ****I ****had to ****work ****with from the Legends and Canon hyperspace ****explanation. ****I was pretty happy with what I came up with, and I hope ya'll are cool with it, too.**

**On a completely different subject, I actually teared up a little writing Marco and Star in so much emotional pain at the end there.**


	10. Slingshot

**With the addition of this chapter, this is now the longest Star Wars/SVTFOE crossover on this site. (There's only two, which kinda surprises me, but whatever.)**

**If my research is correct, the longest SVTFOE crossover of any kind on this site is somewhere in the vicinity of 252,000 words. Based on how much I've written already and how much more story I have planned...I think there's a good chance I might best that. **

"I really hope this works. I'd really hate for the last two days of my life to have been spent doing all of this just for it to blow us all up when we turn it on."

Tom gave a chuckle at Marco's cheeky remark. "Me, too, Dude. I'd hate for all this work to have been for nothing."

For the past two rotations, the crew of the _Raventalon _had worked tirelessly to prepare the ship for their slingshot through the Imperial patrol grid. Star and Marco helped out as much as they could, but neither being familiar with the intricacies of starship propulsion systems, Janna and Tom had to do most of the work. Even so, their modifications were nearly complete, and Tom and Marco were busily putting the finishing touches on the fusion reactor.

"Hey! How's it looking in here, boys?" Janna asked as she poked her head into the engine room.

"Almost done," Tom replied, wiping sweat from his brow.

The _Raventalon_'s captain came over for a closer look, stepping carefully over the huge power cable laying across the floor. "Walk me through what ya got."

Tom set down his tools and pointed out each step of fusion reactor's upgrades while Marco leaned against the bulkhead. "We've got the new power feed from the backup hyperdrive tied into this power converter here so that we can change the feed to the stator motor over from the primary when we're ready for the boost. This smaller cable spliced in before the converter is a hardwired power feed to the lubrication pump so that this circuit turns on as soon as the backup hyperdrive does to keep the stator bearings from overheating."

Janna pointed to a cube-shaped component that was tied into the smaller cable. "What's that?"

"Oh, I was worried that the pump motor wouldn't be able to handle the current like the reactor stator motor, so I put a resistor in there to scale the amperage down so the lubrication pump doesn't burn out."

Janna nodded. "Mm...yeah, that's a good idea."

Tom stood up and leaned against the top of the reactor. "You know, I had a thought." He thumped his fist against the top of the reactor's outer shell. "Are you worried at all about starving this thing for fuel?"

"Not really. The fuel sprayers are fired by the rotation of the stator, so if the stator spins faster, then the sprayers should also be spraying more often."

"Well, yeah, but with the sprayers spraying more times per minute, can the fuel compressor keep up?"

Janna scrunched up her lips. "Mmm...I see what you're saying."

"I don't," Marco said to no one in particular.

"Well, when we change the power routing to the stator motor over to the hyperdrive feed, I can route the stator motor's primary feed to assist the fuel compressor."

Tom thought for a moment. "That would probably do it." He gave a shrug. "Then I guess we're all set down here."

Janna folded her arms confidently. "And Star and I are just about finished with the hyperdrive."

"Speaking of which," Marco interjected, "where is Star?"

Gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb, Janna answered, "She's putting the outer case back on the hyperdrive."

No sooner were the words out of Janna's mouth, Star appeared in the doorway. "Actually, I'm right here! All finished!"

"Did you remember to reconnect the harness for the internal ray shield before you put all the fasteners back in?"

Star blinked. "Uhhhh...I'll be right back."

And Star disappeared again, as Janna smiled and shook her head.

"So, Janna," Marco began. "How confident are you that this is gonna work?"

Being the only one in the room who wasn't leaning against something, Janna let her weight fall back against the bulkhead opposite Marco. "I don't know. Moderately?"

"Greaaaat," Marco said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "That makes me feel good."

"Well, you won't have to take my word for it. I'm going to have Pony Head do some calculations and create a simulation to see if we're gonna blow up or not."

This did not ease Marco's mind one bit.

"Once I put the components we added on the ship's system schematic, Pony will be able to run 'diagnostics' on the systems to see if they can adequately handle the load and such."

Tom leaned closer to Marco and whispered "'And such.' Technical term."

Janna headed back for the door. "I'll go start doing that now. Then while Pony Head starts running her tests, we can make some dinner."

Marco smirked. "I'm sure Star will be happy to hear that."

It was Janna's turn to roll her eyes. "I know. She's always hungry."

A sudden spark of inspiration struck in Marco's brain. "Say...since this is probably the last time we'll ever be on Coruscant, how about I go pick up dinner?"

"Really?" Tom asked. "Isn't that a little...dangerous?"

Marco shrugged. "Maybe. But I'm in disguise," he said as he flipped up his hood so that it shaded his face. "And I doubt anyone who cares will recognize me where I'm going."

Janna shrugged. "If you want to take that risk, be my guest."

"Cool! Tom, can I borrow your speeder bike?"

Tom smiled. "All yours, bro."

"Awesome! I'll be back!" Marco started to leave, but then back tracked. He removed his lightsaber from his belt and handed it to Tom. "You'd better hold onto this for me. Wouldn't want anyone to see me with it."

"Yeah, probably a good idea. I'll keep it safe for you."

"Thanks, Tom." And then Marco left.

The instant his footsteps faded away, Janna made a grab for the lightsaber. "Let me see that thing!"

"Janna!" Tom yelped as he tried to hold it out of reach behind him.

"C'mon, just let me try it!"

"It's not a toy!"

Janna stretched her arm out as far as she could and managed to graze the lightsaber with her fingertips. Tom held his arm up higher, the hilt sliding in his grip as he did. He accidentally pressed the activation plate and the green blade shot up into the ceiling, destroying the light and plunging the engine room into darkness aside from the lightsaber's glow.

"Way to go, Tom."

"Shut up."

* * *

Hands in the pockets of his hoodie, hood pulled up to obscure his face, Marco patiently waited beside the pick-up window at Britta's Tacos. This would be dinner: one last meal from his and Star's favorite eatery before they had to leave their Coruscanti home forever.

"Here's your order, sir."

The server set down a bag of neatly packaged food on the counter and Marco handed him several credit chips. "Thanks, Oskar."

_Oh, crud! I just called him by his name!_

"Say, how did you know my name?" Oskar asked as Marco fumbled for the bag while trying not to look in Oskar's direction. "Do I know you? You seem kind of familiar."

_Of course I look familiar! Star and I have been coming here at least once a week for the past two years._

"What's your name again? Uhhh..." Oskar snapped his fingers. "Mango! That's it!"

Marco finally got his fingers around the handle on the bag. "Yes. That is definitely me. Mango. See you 'round, Oskar."

"Okay! Bye, Mango!" Oskar called after him.

_Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Time to get the heck out of here._

Simultaneously hurrying and desperately trying not to appear to be in a hurry, Marco headed down the stairs that wrapped around the side of Britta's Taco's' main concourse platform to the air speeder parking lot. The light of the late afternoon sun was blocked by a durasteel cantilevered awning that shielded the parking lot, and the evening lights had yet to come on, so the area was fairly dim. Marco was grateful to see that the lot was devoid of life, which made sense because Britta's Taco's was really more of a lunch establishment.

The rear of Tom's little _Undicur_-class jump speeder had a small storage compartment in the rear behind the seat, and Marco stashed the food inside. Just as he closed and locked the hatch, he was struck with the feeling that he was being watched. He turned around apprehensively, his eyes scanning the nearly empty parking lot, but found nothing.

"Ugh...I'm just paranoid," Marco muttered to himself.

The tiniest ripple in the Force twitched at the back of Marco's mind. He whirled around to find a red lightsaber blade flying toward his face.

Operating on pure instinct, Marco let his knees buckle and he dropped to the ground, the lightsaber blade passing barely a centimeter above his nose as he went down. He landed on his back to find a being dressed in black, every bit of skin covered, a helmet obscuring it's face, and a ruby-bladed lightsaber in each hand.

"Marco Diaz," the inquisitor said simply through its mask. "You were lucky to escape death once." It slowly raised both lightsabers over its head. "I promise you will not be as fortunate this time."

After a brief scream of terror, Marco quickly rolled out of the way as the inquisitor brought both blades down with tremendous speed, each leaving a long gash in the duracrete where Marco had been barely a second before.

Marco quickly jumped to his feet and reached for his belt, but his hand found only the hem of his hoodie_. _He'd forgotten that he'd left his lightsaber with Tom.

"Oh, no." The red blades were swinging at him once again, and he leaned back as he took a step in retreat. The lightsabers missed their mark for a third time.

_I can't fight, I can't defend myself. What do I do?_ The inquisitor stood between the Padawan and the jump speeder. _I could do that, I guess. _

When the inquisitor struck out again, Marco summoned every bit of concentration he could muster and leapt into the air, propelling himself off the ground with the Force and sailing over the inquisitor's head. He landed rather ungracefully on the other side, still off-balance as he sprinted the three remaining steps to the speeder bike and hopped on as the inquisitor turned back to face him. With no time to lose, Marco brought the bike to life and twisted the throttle control against its stop. It accelerated so abruptly that he nearly fell off, but he held on for dear life as the bike rocketed out of the parking lot and away from Britta's Taco's.

"What the heck was that?!" Marco wondered aloud to himself. He looked back over his shoulder, and saw nothing to suggest that he was being pursued. A long, deep breath passed his lips, and he steered toward the industrial district, not reducing throttle speed to a safer pace until he was a few klicks away from the taco stand.

_Yeah, we definitely have to get off this planet as soon as possible. But at least I lost...whatever that THING was._

After what seemed like forever, Marco crossed over the divide out of Coruscant's populated areas and into the industrial sector. After looking over his shoulder the entire way, Marco finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His relief lasted approximately thirty seconds. Just as Marco turned left down a perpendicular pathway between structures, a pair of blaster bolts flew past him and slammed into the side of the adjacent building.

"What?!"

Looking behind him, Marco saw the inquisitor streaking toward him on a blacked-out 614-AvA speeder bike, the forward-facing blaster cannons spitting another salvo of green lasers at him.

"AAAAH!"

His hand moving nearly of its own volition, Marco jerked the elevation control and the jump speeder dropped several meters, narrowly avoiding the blaster fire as it streaked overhead. When he realized he had narrowly escaped death yet again, Marco twisted the throttle to full power once more and dropped down into the maze of pipes and conduits below.

The inquisitor followed, mirroring every move of its prey, sticking to Marco's tail. Whenever it had the chance, it would fire at him, but Marco maneuvered in and out of every crevasse that his bike could squeeze through as quickly as he dared, making him difficult to hit.

Eventually, Marco's flight path took him to an area where the buildings fell away as huge pipes lay out along the ground and there was little to shield him. He quickly extracted his commlink from the pocket of his hoodie before beginning a series of jukes and dips that he hoped would make him difficult to hit.

He activated the commlink. "Jannaaaaaa!" He yelled into it.

_"Marco? You almost here with the food? I'm starving."_

"Janna! Get the ship ready to take off! I'm being chased by...something! That is trying very, very hard to kill me and it's right on my tail!"

_"What?"_

"Just get ready to take off as soon as I get there! And make sure the boarding ramp is still down, I'm gonna be coming in hot!"

* * *

Star poked her head into the _Raventalon_'s cockpit where PY-HD was plugged into her computer terminal.

"Hey, Pony!"

The droid's head swiveled around, emitting happy beeps.

"How go the tests?"

A very long series of various noises came as the reply. Even though she knew how to translate astromech binary language, Star only actually understood about half of what PY-HD was saying.

"Oh, that's...cool, I guess," Star tried to say convincingly. "Do you think it's actually gonna-"

"Make a hole, Star!" Janna suddenly pushed past Star, quickly followed by Tom.

"Hey!"

Pilot and co-pilot immediately began flipping switches on the control panels on the bulkheads in the cockpit before each taking their respective seats.

"Uh, what's going on?" Star asked.

A low hum echoed through the ship as the reactor came online and the sublight engines and repulsorlifts whirred to life.

"Marco just called me," Janna explained as she continued flipping switches. "Said he's being chased by someone who's trying to kill him."

"Wait, what?!" Star yelped in shock. "He left?!"

"Went to get food," Tom said quickly.

Star blinked, and then calmly sat down in the seat behind the copilot. "Yeah, okay. That makes sense."

"So now we gotta go," Janna said. "Whoever is chasing him is clearly someone working for Palpatine, so if he makes it back here in one piece, his pursuer will likely call for backup. So it's now or never! We gotta go, now!"

Janna grabbed the control yoke and commanded the _Raventalon _a few meters off the ground. PY-HD beeped indignantly. "Sorry, Pony," Janna said as she maneuvered the ship from its hiding place as hastily as she dared. "No time for your tests now."

The astromech twittered in annoyance one last time.

"Uh, Janna, the boarding ramp is still down," Tom reminded her as the ship cleared the edge of the abandoned siphoning plant.

"I know. Marco's probably gonna have to get in here in a hurry, don't you think?"

"Oh, good point." Something on the scanner grabbed Tom's attention. "In fact, here he comes now."

Star darted forward from her seat to look out the forward viewscreen. There in the distance was Marco on Tom's jump speeder, weaving back and forth to avoid the blaster canon fire from his black-clad pursuer.

Star practically launched over the second row seats like a missile. "Get the ship high enough for him to fly straight in, I'll close the ramp from the back as soon as he's in!" she yelled as she raced from the cockpit.

"You got it!" Janna called back. Still flying on repulsorlift controls, she glided the ship slowly in Marco's direction, expertly spinning the _Raventalon_ one-hundred-eighty degrees while still moving in a straight line. The boarding ramp was now directly ahead of Marco's current trajectory, and he need only aim the speeder bike inside.

* * *

Star hung onto the edge of the bulkhead at the top of the boarding ramp, watching her best friend and his pursuer approach. She ducked back as a few stray blaster bolts from the inquisitor's bike struck the ramp.

"Oh, Marco..." Star whispered to herself worriedly, feeling powerless to help him.

_That bike is really close behind him. Maybe there is a way I can help him..._

Closing her eyes, Star reached out with the Force, concentrating hard on the inquisitor's speeder bike.

Meanwhile, the inquisitor, having a far faster mount, had significantly erased the gap that Marco held over it now that they were on more open ground. Marco found it becoming more and more difficult to avoid being blasted out of the sky. As they approached the _Raventalon _hovering in wait just a half-klick ahead, the inquisitor had Marco dead in its sights.

"I gotcha now."

And then completely without warning, the inquisitor's speeder bike bucked forward as it came to an abrupt halt, sending its rider flipping over the handlebars with a surprised yell. Still clutching the bike's handgrips, the inquisitor dangled in the air as it watched Marco rocket away.

From the top of the _Raventalon_'s boarding ramp, Star snickered victoriously, having stopped the inquisitor's bike dead with the Force. "Come on, Marco! Get in here!"

Marco decelerated as he raced past her into the ship, nearly plowing the speeder bike into the bulkhead opposite the boarding ramp. Star slammed down the lever that actuated the boarding ramp and it began to retract. "GO, JANNA!" she yelled as loudly as she could, even though she had a feeling the pilot already knew.

As the _Raventalon _passed overhead, the inquisitor let go of the left hand grip and dangled from the speeder bike by one hand. It touched a switch on the side of its helmet, activating the built-in commlink. "Hey, it's me. I found that YV-560 freighter that everyone's supposed to be on the lookout for. It's heading for oh-eight-six-niner. Dispatch fighters to intercept immediately."

* * *

Still perched atop the jump speeder and leaning against the handlebars, Marco panted, gasping for air. He had been so nervous and was focusing so hard on flying during the final minute of his chase that his subconscious had forgotten to breathe.

"Marco!" Whatever breath he had managed to draw into his lungs was suddenly squeezed out of him as Star wrapped him in a crushing hug. "Thank goodness you're okay!" She released him, and he met her eyes. Her expression suddenly morphed from a smile, thankful he was alright, to angry in a split second. She slapped him on the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"How could you possibly think leaving our hideout and going into the city was a good idea? You could have been killed and I- uh, we would never have even known what happened to you!"

Marco coughed, still trying to refill his lungs. "I just wanted to surprise you. With food from Britta's. Because I didn't think we'd ever be back here again."

Star's expression softened. "Oh...that's...really sweet of you." She blushed slightly. "Sorry I smacked you. But that was really stupid of you to go out there alone."

Marco nervously rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I know. But hey, at least we get to have tacos one last time."

Star smiled. "Yeah, that's true." Her face turned slightly redder beneath the hearts on her cheeks. "Thank you, Marco."

"You're welcome." Marco powered down the speeder bike and carefully climbed off. "So, uh, what's going on now?"

"Oh, Janna said that our hiding place isn't safe anymore because if you made it back here without dying that thing that was trying to kill you would probably call for back up."

"Ah." Marco froze, realizing how much danger he had now put them all in. "Right..."

They started to make their way up to the cockpit.

"Speaking of that thing that was chasing you," Star said, "what the heck even WAS that thing?"

"I have no idea! It just ambushed me in the parking lot at Britta's. All I can tell you is that it had red lightsabers." Marco scratched thoughtfully at his temple. "Although, now that I'm thinking about it, something about that...thing...seemed slightly familiar..."

* * *

Janna Ordonia's pet peeve was pilots who looked away from the sky while they were flying. She didn't care if she were flying through deep space and there was nothing to hit, there was no way she was averting her eyes unless the ship was flying on a preprogrammed course or was being controlled by a droid. She didn't even like to look away to activate controls. She had memorized the location of every single button and switch that operated the _Raventalon_'s systems so that she never had to take her eyes off the forward viewscreen, and could control everything strictly by touch.

As such, she paid no attention to Star and Marco as they returned to the cockpit.

"Janna!" Marco called. "Thanks for the rescue!"

"Marco. Good to see you're still in one piece. Really hope whatever you got for dinner was worth us having to run," Janna quipped.

Marco winced. "Yeah, me too."

There was silence as the _Raventalon_ crossed out of the industrial sector. Then Janna quietly asked, "You okay?" of Marco.

"Uh...yeah. I'm, uh, I'm fine."

"Good. Pony, plot us a course to the slingshot launch location. Hopefully we'll get lucky and reach it at just the right time."

"Uh, 'slingshot launch location?'" Star repeated in confusion.

"The spot where we'll make our not-quite-hyperspace jump through the patrol gap," Tom explained. "Janna decided we're calling it a 'slingshot.'"

Various sarcastic noises came from PY-HD.

"What do you mean 'we're not gonna make it?'" Janna asked.

An alert sounded on one of Tom's screens. "Uh-"

"Let me guess," Janna interrupted. "Fighters inbound?"

"...Yes."

"Wonderful." Janna shoved the throttle up and the _Raventalon_ accelerated. "Where are they?"

Tom checked the scanner again. "Kinda everywhere. Four behind, two closing from above just ahead."

"I see the ones ahead," Janna said. Through the forward viewscreen, a pair of ARC-170 fighters were streaking down from the upper atmosphere toward them, their S-foils in attack position. "Well, no need to worry about being seen now. Let's just bug out as fast as we can. Pony, get the slingshot system ready."

PY-HD's response sounded annoyed.

"Well, you'd better finish setting it up in the ship's computer, then! Alright, power up the weapons system and shield generator, Tom. We're gonna have to defend ourselves while Pony Head finishes on her end. Star, Marco, you guys better get on the canons and figure out how to use them pretty quick."

"On it!" Star cried, grabbing Marco's hand and towing him out of the cockpit. "C'mon, Marco!"

"Wait, what are we doing?"

As they left, Tom rapidly began flipping switches, causing various lights on the control panel to turn green. "Weapons systems are online." He flicked a few more switches. "And so are the shields."

"Good. How's it going back there, Pony?"

The astromech twittered in annoyance. Janna groaned and muttered under her breath. "For Force-sakes, we're gonna get blown up."

* * *

Star clambered up into the dorsal turret while Marco took the ventral gun. Sitting down in the seat, she quickly felt out the controls. Pedals on the floor, one for each foot, spun the turret on a turntable to the left or right, capable of swiveling a full 360 degrees. The functionality of the trigger was obvious, and tilting the canon up and down was accomplished by simply pulling or pushing the aiming control, assisted by a hydraulic system.

A headset hung on the end of the right side hand grip. She quickly strapped it to her head just in front of her horns. Janna's voice almost immediately came through the earpiece.

_"Hey, whichever one of you is topside, there's no inhibitor to keep you from shooting the radar dish, so check your fire!"_

"I will try very, very hard to not do that, Janna," Star replied, swiveling the turret a few degrees to the left and realizing that, yes, she could aim directly at the large radar dish on the port side of the ship.

The pair of ARC-170's that had appeared ahead of them from out of the clouds were nearly in range. They kept high, so Marco could not aim his canon at them. Star took careful aim and pulled the trigger, sending a barrage of green laser fire toward the fighters. The ARC's took evasive action, and Star tracked one with the targeting screening above the hand grips. The bolts of green energy pursued one fighter across the sky as Star chased it with the canon, and then quickly spun the turret and forced the other to evade her shots as well. She didn't manage to hit either of them, but she did manage to keep both fighters from being able to line up a shot and fire at the_Raventalon._

Below, Marco had his sights on the fighters closing from behind. With theYV-560 freighter fleeing at full throttle, the fighters only gained on them gradually, which gave Marco a decent amount of time to aim. When the closest fighter came into range, Marco squeezed the trigger. His first few shots missed, and the fighters scrambled to avoid his fire. As they drew even closer, Marco let a flurry of semi-random shots fly across the sky. One found its mark on the nearest ARC's lower port-side S-foil, and the ship spiraled out of control and plummeted toward the ground.

"Hey, I got one!"

Then the remaining three fighters began to return fire, filling the air with blue lasers that began to pummel the _Raventalon_.

* * *

Janna banked the ship hard to starboard and twisted the control yoke hard, flipping the ship over a full 360 degrees as she dove down into the paths between the buildings below, hoping to lose the fighters in the maze.

"How's it going back there, Pony?" Janna asked. The astromech chittered. "Almost done? You'd better be!"

More annoyed noises came from PY-HD, but Janna paid the droid no mind and kept focused on flying.

* * *

"Marco, be careful! Don't hit anything that isn't already trying to kill us!"

Marco nearly scoffed at Star's warning. How was he supposed to do that? They were skirting around skyscrapers while panicked air speeder drivers rushed to get out of the freighter's way.

Marco took careful aim at one of the fighters chasing close behind and fired one blaster bolt at a time. His first shot missed and slammed into the side of a building. His second nicked an air speeder that somehow didn't explode. He gritted his teeth, closed one eye, and fired one more time. His shot pierced a week point just above the fighter's cockpit canopy and the fighter violently exploded.

"I really hope pieces of that don't hit anyone."

Star felt a tremor in the Force. Looking up, she saw another fighter trying to dive at the the _Raventalon _from high above. She spun the turret around as fast as it would go, aimed, and fired.

"AH-H-H-H-H-H-H!" Star war-cried as she fired shot after shot straight into the sky.

Far more shots than were necessary, because the very first one struck the ARC-170 dead in the nose, and it vanished in a ball of flame.

_Here I am, killing again. Still not feeling guilty about it, though. Actually feeling strangely...accomplished._

_Probably because I'm trying to keep myself and Marco and Janna and Tom __a__nd Pony Head from getting blown up. _

_Yeah. That seems logical. _

She shook the thoughts away and refocused on staying alive, swiveling around to find another attacking fighter to aim at.

* * *

PY-HD bleeped excitedly.

"Pony's done!" Tom cried.

"Good job, Pony!" Janna said. "Let's blow this planet!"

Tom began flipping switches again. "Switching over the hyperdrive control to the backup."

"I'll get this baby into launch position." Janna hauled back on the yoke and the lifted the _Raventalon_'s nose, bringing the freighter up above the tops of the skyscrapers and aiming for the atmosphere. The fighters stayed hot on their trail as Star and Marco continued to return fire. Another ARC-170 tumbled out of the sky. Being pursued meant their path and timing no longer mattered, everyone already knew they were coming. At this point, the slingshot was simply the best method available to lose the chasing fighters.

"Alright, hyperdrive control is ready, and I'm ready to switch primary power to the fuel compressor. Whenever you're ready, Captain." Tom addressed Janna as "Captain" slightly sarcastically, trying to relieve a bit of tension.

A pair of identical levers sat directly between the pilot and copilot's seats side-by-side, meant to each be operated by the crew member in each respective chair. Tom placed his hand on his hyperdrive lever and waited for Janna.

Captain Ordonia sighed. "I really hope this works." She took hold of her own lever. "And if it doesn't...it's been an honor to fly with you, Lucy."

"I'm so nervous, I'm not even going to gripe about you calling me that," Tom chuckled nervously.

Janna took a deep breath. "On three. One...two...three!"

Janna and Tom shoved their respective hyperdrive control levers forward. For a brief moment, nothing seemed to happen.

Then the _Raventalon_ shot forward as if propelled by the shockwave of an explosion. The ARC-170 fighters were left far behind as the freighter raced into the atmosphere.

In the turrets, having both been turned rearwards facing their pursuers, Star and Marco were thrown forward by the force of acceleration. Star caught herself on the canon's hand grips, but Marco did not react quite as quickly and his nose slammed into the targeting computer's screen. The world outside the turret canopies became a blur as they rocketed away from the planet's surface, the ship violently shaking at the intense atmospheric speed.

Tom usually kept his hands off of the copilot's control yoke and just left the flying to Janna. She was a better pilot, anyway. So, he was quite surprised when she yelled, "Tom! Help me hold it steady!" The control yoke in front of him vibrated fiercely as Janna struggled to maintain their course. He quickly grabbed the yoke and forcibly tried to keep it still, helping Janna to keep the ship flying straight and level.

After only about fifteen seconds but what seemed like forever, the _Raventalon _broke though the upper atmosphere and the violent shaking ceased. Several warning lights starting flashing on various panels as components began to overheat from the stress placed on them.

"We're clear! Shut it down!" Janna cried. Tom's hand snapped to his hyperdrive control lever as Janna did the same and they brought their slingshot to an end.

Tom's eyes flitted over the various warning lights. "Oh, boy." He quickly reached over and pulled the throttle back to minimum speed. Though they were free of the atmosphere, they were still affected by Coruscant's gravity well, and the _Raventalon_'s immense velocity quickly began to decrease.

"What are you doing?"

"The reactor is overheating and over-pressurized and the stator bearings are so hot I'm afraid they're gonna melt!" Tom answered. "We gotta give everything a chance to cool down!"

"Ah. Good call. Pony, can you reroute power to the coolant pump?"

The droid beeped in the affirmative.

A moment later, Star and Marco reappeared in the cockpit, the latter cupping his aching nose with his hand. "It worked!" Star cried happily. "And we didn't blow up!"

"B't I did sma'd by dode," Marco moaned.

They each took a seat behind the pilots.

"So, I guess we probably very quickly should talk about this now," Janna said, "Where exactly are going? I need coordinates for a hyperspace jump so we can get away from this planet."

Star thoughtfully placed her hand on her chin. "Hmm..."

Before she had a chance to say anything, an alarm started blaring. Tom looked at his screen, and his trio of eyes went wide. "Uh-!" But anything else he might have said was cut off as a venator-class attack cruiser materialized out of hyperspace directly in front of the _Raventalon_, only a few hundred meters off the bow.

All four teenagers screamed.

"AHHHHHH!"

As every one of the cruiser's canons began to fire on the decelerating freighter, Janna slammed the throttle back up to full power and pointed the _Raventalon_ under the lower hull of the cruiser. She juked the ship left and right to avoid canon bolts, each coming closer than the last as they drew closer to the cruiser.

"Uh, Janna? Shouldn't you be going, you know, away from the people trying to kill us?" Star asked.

"Takes a lot less time to get underneath that cruiser where there are no canons than to try to get out of range," Janna explained as she rolled the _Raventalon_ in another 360 to avoid several shots in succession. "Once we're under the cruiser where they can't hit us, they'll probably launch fighters, so Pony, you better get the hyperdrive ready to tear out of here as soon as we're clear!"

The droid beeped questioningly, asking where their destination should be.

"It doesn't matter! Anywhere that isn't here! Just pick a place!"

A second later, they made it to the safety of space beneath the attack cruiser's hull. Janna skirted the ship close along the bottom, still at full speed trying to get out of Coruscant's gravity well as quickly as possible. It was then that Marco noticed the plethora of waning lights flashing, an alert beeping in time with the light, and the sound of the sublight engines behind them, which sounded far more high-pitched than usual, whining in protest.

"Uh, what's up with the flashing lights and why do the engines sound weird?"

"The engines and reactor are overheated," Tom explained.

"But we don't exactly have time to spare to stop and let them cool," Janna added.

Tom's radar display picked up something that caught his attention. "Two fighters from the cruiser," he said, "coming up behind us, fast! And we, meanwhile, seem to be slowing down."

"I noticed that. I think everything is so overheated that it's bogging down," Janna said. Something on a screen alerted her. "We're clear of Coruscant's gravity! Pony, how's the hyperdrive coming?" The astromech bleeped and blooped a few times. "Well, hurry it up!"

"Janna..." Tom sounded scared as a sensor alert went off. "Those fighters are arming missiles."

"Pony! Faster!"

Marco looked at Star beside him. Gone was any semblance of her usual cheerfulness and optimism. She looked as frightened as he felt. _We aren't gonna make it,_ Marco thought. _I have to tell her right now. _"Star?" he squeaked. She turned her focus from the forward viewscreen and her wide blue eyes met his gaze. "I, uh, have to tell you something..."

PY-HD chittered rapidly.

"She's done!" Janna cried.

"Switching over to primary hyperdrive control!" Tom cried, his hands rapidly flipping switches.

"I wish I had told you sooner..."

"Ready to go to lightspeed!"

Tom's radar screen began to flash red. "THEY FIRED MISSILES AT US!" Tom yelled in panic.

Janna's hand snapped to the hyperdrive control lever and Tom found his a split second later.

"Star, I-"

"THREETWOONE GO, BABY, GO!" Janna yelled, drowning out anything Marco might have said. She and Tom slammed their hyperdrive control levers forward.

Outside the forward viewscreen, the light from hundreds of distant stars stretched into long streaks as the YV-560 jumped into hyperspace...

...just as one of the missiles from the enemy fighters struck the stern of the _Raventalon _just above the starboard-most sublight thruster housing, exploding as the ship disappeared from Coruscant's space.

**I can't believe it took TEN chapters to get them off Coruscant. Yeah, this story is going to be really, really long. **

**What perils will befell our heroes now? Tune in next time to find out! **

**As always, don't forget to review! ****I'd**** really, really ****appreciate it. **


	11. Raventalon Adrift

**Tom can't be a legit "Demon" because this is, you know, Star Wars. Therefore, I have decided that Tom's species is known as a "demonicite." And no, he can't manifest fire. He's just a dude with three eyes, two horns, and purplish skin. And sharp teeth, I guess, because that's important according to Rio Durant from ****_Solo: A Star Wars Story_****.**

**Star is still a Mewman, though ****I haven't ****fully decided what that ****means ****in the context of Star Wars yet. Marco and Janna are still humans. Pony Head is still an astromech. Palpatine is still the Emperor. The inquisitor is still inquisitive. Yoda is still green.**

**You get the point****. ****  
**

The inquisitor stood on a landing platform, watching the sky. The commlink built into its helmet beeped.

"Yeah."

_"Sir, the YV-model freighter we were pursuing has escaped, though we did manage to damage it just as it jumped to hyperspace."_

The inquisitor silenced the commlink, scowling beneath the mask. _They're more resilient __than __I __expected, I'll give them that. But they won't elude me for long._

* * *

Several different sirens began blaring in the cockpit of the _Raventalon _while angry red emergency lights strobed slowly on and off.

"What's happening?!" Star yelled over the alarms.

"I don't know!" Janna cried. Her fingers flew over the control panels, frantically flipping switches. "Nothing is responding! I can't shut anything down!"

Rapid beeps and chitters came from PY-HD. "Pony Head says there was some kind of electrical spike and the navicomputer is down!" Tom cried.

"We're flying blind, then! We gotta drop out of hyperspace, NOW!" Janna's usual stoic demeanor was faltering. She grabbed both hyperdrive control levers in panic, shoving them both down. Outside the forward viewscreen, the blue and black swirls of hyperspace did not vanish. She pushed the levers back up and then down a second time, but the _Raventalon_remained in hyperspace.

"Janna, what's going on?!" Marco cried.

"I can't drop us out of hyperspace!"

"Why?"

"How the heck should I know? Pony, give me something!" The astromech screamed various noises in reply. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"What did she say?" Star asked, unable to follow the astromech's binary at the moment in her panicked state.

"She said the main computer got hit with that power surge, too, and the controls are locked out!" Janna stood up. "We're gonna crash into something in hyperspace, we gotta shut down the hyperdrive!"

"How?!" the other three all yelled.

"Uhh..." Janna snapped her fingers and looked at Tom. "You still got Marco's lightsaber?"

"Yeah?"

Janna held her hand out toward Tom, beckoning for the weapon. "Give it."

Star looked at Marco. "Why does Tom have your lightsaber?"

"I'll tell you later if we don't die."

Tom pulled the lightsaber from the breast pocket of his leather jacket and deposited it into Janna's waiting palm. She quickly darted from the cockpit, raced down the steps to the lower deck, and at the first door in the short corridor punched the door control.

Janna's eyes went wide as a deafening whine met her ears. A wave of hot air passed over her, the interior of the room that contained the main hyperdrive becoming scalding hot from the overheating components. The hyperdrive's outer housing coursed with arcing bolts of electricity as the internals failed to carry the immense electrical load.

"That's probably not good," Janna muttered to herself. Taking every step carefully, she ventured into the room, making her way over to the hyperdrive. Making sure she did not touch the hyperdrive housing, she ignited Marco's lightsaber, squeezed her arm between the hyperdrive and the bulkhead, and sliced through the hyperdrive power feed cable. Instantly the whine emanating from the hyperdrive began to soften, and the electrical arcs across the housing fizzled out.

Back up in the cockpit, Tom, Star and Marco all gave a sigh of relief as the swirls and colors of hyperspace shifted back into a star-speckled black curtain outside the forward viewscreen.

"Janna did it!" Marco said excitedly. "We're out of hyperspace!"

The relief was short lived, though, as various warning lights and alarms continued to flash and blare.

Tom started flipping switches again, but nothing seemed to be happening. "I still have no controls, though, and the sublight engines are locked at full power."

A moment later, Janna returned. "Whatda we got?" she asked briskly, tossing Marco's lightsaber to its rightful owner as she retook her spot in the pilot's seat.

"I still have no controls," Tom told her, "and the engines are stuck at max throttle."

Janna shook her head as she confirmed Tom's words. "Pony, do you have any access to the ship's computer now?"

The droid gave a lengthy reply. Marco, being the only one who did not understand astromech binary, leaned closer to Star and whispered, "What did she say?"

"I think said now that the hyperdrive isn't causing a system overload, she has access to very basic functions for each system, and power routing."

Janna thought for a second, her eyes flickering over the various warning lights before her. "Okay, Pony, here's what I want you to do. Kill power to all systems except life support and emergency lighting."

PY-HD agreed to do so, and after inputting a few commands into her terminal, the lights flickered off, replaced with amber-tinted low-power emergency lights drawing current from deep-cycle rechargeable batteries. The _Raventalon_'s systems whined as they shut down, and a moment later, the ship became very quiet. Even the warning lights on the control panels went out.

No one spoke for several long moments until finally Star asked, "Soooo...now what?"

"Now...now we wait for everything to cool off so that we can fully assess the damage," Janna replied. "And then, hopefully, we fix everything." She stood up from the pilot's seat and leaned her forearm against the seat back. "So, Marco, where's that food?"

Marco almost couldn't believe what Janna had just said. His gaze flickered to Tom and then to Star, and their confused expressions suggested they were just as surprised as he was. "How could you possibly think about eating right now?" he asked slowly.

Janna shrugged. "Blind panic works up an appetite."

"...It's still in the storage compartment on the speeder bike."

"Sweet. I'll grab it and meet you guys in the crew lounge." And Janna sauntered out of the cockpit as if their current situation was completely ordinary.

Star stood up, looking out the forward viewscreen. Outside, she could see nothing but the inky blackness of space speckled with pinpricks of light emanating from hundreds of distant stars and planets. "Tom?" she asked as she squeezed around the front seats for a closer look. Marco followed her.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?"

Marco leaned over the control panel, looking as far as he could in every direction. "I sure don't see any planets or suns...or anything."

Tom sighed. "I don't know exactly with the navicomputer down, but I do know that we aren't in any star system. We're just...nowhere."

* * *

Janna hadn't been exaggerating. She was indeed quite hungry. She ate of the smorgasbord of food Marco had purchased from Britta's with gusto, while her three companions picked at their food slowly and silently.

Tom's mind swirled back and forth between two thoughts:

_Will we be able to repair the ship with the spare parts and tools we have onboard?_ _How in the galaxy is Janna so calm right now?! We could be lost in space forever and she doesn't look even the slightest bit concerned!_

Marco, meanwhile, felt nauseous. He'd been just a few words away from telling Star how he felt about her. _I said "I". I needed a minimum of two words. Five words would have been clearer, but two would have been enough._

_But I didn't say it. _

_I only wanted to tell her because I thought we were going to die. But we didn't die. And I also didn't tell her._

_Should I tell her now? Is she wondering what it was I was about to tell her?_

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Star chewing on what might be the last burrito from Britta's Tacos that she would ever eat the slowest he had ever seen her chew. She hung her head slightly, gaze affixed on the burrito wrapper unfolded on the table in front of her, her expression looking weary and worried.

_I wonder what she's thinking. _

Star was thinking, _What could Marco have possibly wanted to tell me?!_

Janna wiped her mouth and stood up from the table. "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted. It's gonna be a couple hours at least until everything has cooled off, and we left Coruscant nearly at sunset, so I think I'm gonna turn in for some shut eye."

"Don't you think we should keep an eye on the ship's systems?" Tom hesitantly asked. "Just in case something, like, catches on fire?"

"If you want to keep watch, be my guest, but I'm going to bed." And Janna left without another word.

Tom hung his head dejectedly. "Oooookay then."

Marco noticed Star trying not to appear to be looking at him. "What?" he asked of her.

"N-Nothing," she said, taking another bite of her burrito and looking off elsewhere._He said he wished he had told me sooner..._ This fact bothered her. She and Marco had just had a whole conversation about not keeping secrets and being able to tell each other anything.

_So what __wasn't__ he __telling__ me? Is he even going to tell me now?_

_I'm gonna __have __to ask__. __  
_

Tom stood up from the table. "Well...since it's apparently my job because I'm the one who's worried, I'm gonna go make myself comfortable in the cockpit and...you know...'keep watch.'"

"You want one of us to stay up with you?" Marco asked.

"Nah. You guys get some sleep. I've got Pony Head for company." Tom headed for the door. "Goodnight." And he headed for the cockpit, leaving the two Jedi Padawans alone.

Star set down her burrito, only half-eaten, and finally looked at her best friend beside her, having been casually avoiding eye contact with him during dinner. He felt her eyes on him and met her gaze.

"You okay, Star?"

"Marco, what did you want to tell me?"

He jumped in surprise. "What now?"

She groaned. "When we were about to jump away from Coruscant, you said you had something to tell me. I think you even said it was something you wished you had told me sooner. So what is it?"

Marco could almost feel his heart-rate increase. "Uh...well...I-I, uh...You...I...uh..."

Silence fell over the room, the two Padawans staring at each other.

"Star..." Marco swallowed nervously. "...I can't tell you."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Uh, why not? You started to."

Marco blushed and looked away in embarrassment. "Yeah...I did...because I thought we were gonna die. But then we, you know..." He shrugged. "...didn't."

"I don't understand. Why can't you tell me now? Didn't we just have this conversation a couple days ago? You know you can tell me anything."

"Yeah, well, anything except this," Marco said, his tone unintentionally annoyed.

Star felt hurt. "Oh." She looked down at her burrito, slowly becoming cold. "Okay." She slowly stood up from the table. "I'm..." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm gonna go...you know. Sleep."

Marco felt like his heart was about to seize up. She was hurt; he could see as much written on her face. But he didn't know what to say. "Oh. Okay. Uh...goodnight, I guess."

"'Night." And Star left.

Now Marco was all alone. He clenched his right hand and brought it down on the table in frustration before flopping back into the chair he sat on. "Way to go, idiot," he whispered under his breath. "Great job."

* * *

"Okay, gang, here's the rundown."

Janna stood holding her datapad while Tom, Star, and Marco sat around the table in the crew lounge. The two Jedi Padawans sat across from each other instead of on the same side of the table, which Janna did not think she had ever seen them do anytime the four of them were together. PY-HD sat beside the table. The crew of the _Raventalon _had spent half of the day going over nearly every onboard system, and now Captain Ordonia had a full list of the damages.

"First off, the main hyperdrive is beyond repair. The superconductor coils got so hot that they melted through their retainers and made contact with the inside of the housing which is why it overloaded, and the coil being shorted out to the housing fused it to the case, so-" Janna shrugged. "There's no fixing that."

"What even happened to cause that?" Tom asked.

"Beats me. We must have been hit by a missile right at the exact second we jumped to lightspeed and the explosion caused some kind of backfeed into the hyperdrive that caused it to just continuously keep drawing power past the cutoff." She made a gesture with her hand to convey a lack of certainty. "I don't know.

"Anyway, the fusion reactor is down. The stator bearings overheated and locked up when we shut it down, so we have no motive power until we get it fixed, which doesn't really matter anyway because we have no sublight engines. The port side one is fixable, just needs a few internal components that wore out when we did our slingshot. They're parts that I keep spares of onboard and can be replaced from inside the ship, so that's not too bad. The other two were damaged when that missile hit us, which also did some damage to the hull. Fortunately, the shields took the brunt of that explosion, but it still did enough damage to take out two of the engines. The entire starboard side sublight thruster housing is destroyed, the central engine's housing is cracked and we could fix it if we could go outside but we can't, so, yadda yadda yadda, there's no fixing those."

She paused for a deep breath. "As for the electronics, Pony Head says the power surge from the hyperdrive overloading caused the ship's computer to freeze and basically lock everything in whatever mode or position it was in when the surge happened. She says she can fix that with programming. Right, Pony?"

Affirmative sounds from the astromech were the reply.

"As for the navicomputer...she says she can't access it electronically at all, so it's either fried or the wiring might just be fused. Whichever case, we'll have to take it apart and see what's up. Annnnd-" She checked the list she had made on her datapad. "That's everything."

Her friends all stared at her blankly. Tom let out an exaggerated breath.

"Janna, that...that is a lot," Marco said. "What exactly is our plan for fixing it all?"

"Can we even repair all that while we're stranded out here?" Star asked.

Janna held our her datapad for them to see. "If there's one thing I've learned in my career as a smuggler, it's that you always have to plan for the unexpected. This is an old ship, stuff breaks sometimes. So, the forward storage compartment has a decent stockpile of spare parts." She showed the two Padawans a data file containing a list of every spare part Janna had onboard the_Raventalon. _"As for having a plan, we gotta restore control over the ship's systems and get the reactor back online, first and foremost. In fact..." She turned to PY-HD. "Pony, why don't you go get started on getting the controls working right now?"

The droid beeped out a protest.

"I know you do, but could you please? We need the main computer back up so we can turn the power back on. Until we have power, we can't even turn on the lights, and fixing everything else will be way more difficult."

The droid grumbled as it reluctantly scurried out of the crew lounge.

"Once Pony gets the controls working and we get the power back up, we can replace the stator bearings in the reactor. Then we fix the port side sublight engine, and we'll have to take our slingshot system apart so that we can use the backup hyperdrive to get us, you know, anywhere that's an actual planet so we can repair everything else."

"What about the navicomputer?" Star reminded her.

"Tom is decent with wiring, so, Tom, why don't you handle that?"

"I'll do my best," the demonicite replied. "But I'm not making any promises."

"Fair enough," Janna shrugged. "So, Star, you wanna team up with me on the reactor and Marco can help Tom with the navicomputer?

"Fine with me."

Star's answer did not sound like her usual cheerful self. Marco couldn't detect any emotion in her voice at all.

_Oh, me...what did you do?_

Janna switched off her datapad. "Alright! We've got a lot to do, so let's get to work!"

PY-HD beeped enthusiastically.

* * *

"Alri- Ow!" Tom yelped as he sat up excitedly and hit his head on the computer internals inside the access panel.

"You okay?" Marco asked.

"I'm fine." Tom rubbed the sore spot on his head. He was lying on his back on the floor with his head inside the access panel beneath the bulkhead-mounted housing where the navicomputer resided, using a flashlight to examine the circuitry.

"What happened?"

"Pony just said she thinks she's restored manual control, and I got overexcited. Janna probably will want the power turned back on. Can you call and tell her? It's not exactly easy for me to get out of here."

Marco felt his pockets. "Shoot, I left my commlink in the galley."

"Just use mine. It's on the copilot's seat."

* * *

A hand extended up from inside the open top of the fusion reactor. "Adjuster wrench, please."

Star located the wrench in Janna's toolbox and placed it in the captain's waiting hand.

"Thank you." The hand disappeared back down inside the reactor. The girls had removed the top cover of the reactor and Janna had squeezed inside to access the lower stator bearing.

A beeping sound caught their attention. "Someone is hailing my commlink," Janna said. "Probably Tom. Can you grab that, Star? It's on top of the parts boxes in the corner."

"Sure," Star said blankly. She found Janna's commlink and pressed the button to answer the transmission. "Hey, Tom."

_"Actually it's me," _replied Marco's voice.

"One second."

Janna jumped, startled as her commlink suddenly clattered to the bottom of the reactor beside her. "It's for you," Star called from outside.

Janna raised a confused eyebrow and picked up the commlink.

"Hello?"

_"You guys okay down there? What was that noise?" _

"Star, uh, dropped the commlink when she handed it to me. What's up, Marco?"

_"Pony says she thinks she restored manual control."_

"Oh, fantastic. Can you guys turn the power back on?"

_"Uhhh...Tom is kinda...unavailable...at the moment. Why don't you walk me through it?"_

* * *

_"Okay, sure. Before Pony turns manual control back on, every switch, dial, lever, whatever, that isn't in the 'off' position needs to be turned to 'off'. Don't forget the control panel above the pilots' seats." _There was a pause and then she added _"Oh, some things don't have an 'off' setting, they say 'neutral.'"_

"Gotcha. Give me a minute."

As Marco scanned over the control panel and began resetting toggle switches, he felt a wad of guilt in the pit of his stomach. _Star didn't even want to talk to me..._

"Okay, Janna, everything is in either 'off' or 'neutral'."

_"Cool, now tell Pony Head to reset the ship's computer. When it reboots, it should be back on manual control."_

"Pony-" Marco started, but the droid had heard everything Janna had said and cut him off with a series of curt bleeps.

"I think she got the picture, Bro," Tom called from inside the navicomputer.

"Yeah, I got that from context."

PY-HD's socket spun in the computer terminal, and a moment later the red-tinted emergency lighting went out, plunging the cockpit into near-total darkness.

"Whoa, it's dark!" Marco said.

"I'm fine in here," Tom joked. "I've got a flashlight."

_"With the computer resetting, nothing works, even the emergency lights," _Janna's disembodied voice told him. "_Give it a minute."_

Carefully feeling around with his hands in the darkness, Marco found the pilot's seat and sat down to wait. A few moments later, PY-HD's binary language gave some instructions that Marco did not understand.

"What did Pony say?"

"She said after being reset, she's locked out until someone gives her access," echoed Tom's voice. "You have to do that from the control panel."

_"Turn the lights back on first," _Janna said. _"It's pitch black down here!" _Marco heard a faint noise that he thought sounded like a lightsaber ignition. _"Oh, that's a little better. Thanks, Star. Marco, you probably should get life-support back online right away, too."_

"What do I do?"

_"On the overhead control panels above the seats, there's a toggle switch labeled 'Main Cabin Power.' Switch that 'On.'"_

"Okay, hang on. I can't see a thing."_  
_

Marco pulled his lightsaber from his belt and pointed the emitter in a direction where he was reasonably sure he wouldn't hit anything with the blade and switched it on, bathing the cockpit in an emerald glow. He stood up and held his lightsaber up to read the labels on the controls. He found the switch labeled as Janna had described and flicked it up. Nothing appeared to happen.

"Okay, now what?"

_"There should be another switch near that one that says 'Interior Lights - Main Circuit.'"_

Marco found that switch as well, and flicked it up. The lights just outside the cockpit flickered to life, but the cockpit was still dark. Marco poked his head out and could see lights on in the crew lounge, as well. "Janna, some lights came on, but the cockpit is still dark."

_"It's still dark down here, too. Star, try the wall switch." _After a pause, Janna said,_"Ahh, __that's__ better! Lights down here work. Just try turning on the cockpit lights from the switch control by the doorway."_

Marco hit the button and the bright white cockpit lights illuminated. "There we go!" Marco switched off his lightsaber and returned it to his belt.

_"That's progress! Have Tom give you instructions for the life-support system, I gotta get back to what I'm doing."_

* * *

_"Roger that." _

Janna switched off the commlink and squeezed her top half through the opening on top of the fusion reactor. In the bright overhead lights, she got a good look at Star's face for the first time since before they escaped from Coruscant. The Jedi Padawan's typically wide and energetic blue eyes drooped, her jovial smile uncharacteristically missing from her face.

Janna held out the commlink. "Can you put this back over there?"

"Yeah. Sure." Star took it.

"Why aren't you talking to Marco? You mad at him or something?"

"What?" The question caught Star off-guard. "I-I'm not mad at Marco? Why would you say that?"

Janna lowered her eyes and spoke slowly. "Because when you heard Marco's voice on the comm, you practically threw the commlink at me."

"It slipped out of my hand. Sorry about that. C'mon, we should focus on getting the reactor up and running again. Tell me what I can do to help."

Janna did not believe a single word Star had said, but she did agree that getting the fusion reactor back online was their number one priority. She made a mental note to return to the topic at a more appropriate time and ducked back down inside the reactor.


	12. Heart Wrenching

**I just know everyone will be on the edge of their seats during the "fixing the ****_Raventalon"_**** segments of this story.**

**This chapter was probably the most difficult one to write so far. It went through several major revisions****. ****  
**

"Anything?"

"Uhhh...yeah, smoke. There's smoke coming out of case."

"Whoops, wrong wire. How about if I do this?" The navicomputer's little output screen blinked on for a split second and then went dark along with the cockpit lights. PY-HD twittered angrily.

Marco cringed. "Uh..."

"That just tripped the circuit breaker, didn't it?"

"Looks like it."

A defeated sigh came from inside the navicomputer. Then Tom dejectedly said, "The breaker panel is down in the cargo hold."

"Alright. I'll get it."

"Why don't you call the girls and see if one of them can get it? It's one room over from the reactor."

"I guess I could do that." Marco picked up Tom's commlink and hailed Janna's as he sat down in the copilot's seat. _Please let Janna pick up._

_Huh...never thought I would ever *hope* for Janna to answer..._

* * *

"Star, can you get that, please? I have my hands full at the moment."

Star looked at Janna's chiming commlink sitting on the tool box beside her and sighed as she reached for it, hoping it wasn't Marco.

"Hello?"

_"Heyyyy, Star. What...uh...h-how you two doing down there?"_

"What do you want, Marco?" she asked, her voice almost completely devoid of inflection.

_"Uhhh...we had a circuit breaker trip. Tom said the breaker panel is in the cargo hold right next to where you guys are?"_

"Gotcha. I'm on it." And Star disconnected the transmission. "Janna, how do I reset a circuit breaker?"

From inside the reactor, Janna called "Whichever one has the switch that's pointed opposite the others, just flip it back. Breaker panel is on the bulkhead next to the door."

"Okay, on it."

* * *

Marco squeezed the commlink in his hand and leaned forward on the control panel. _  
_

_Star doesn't even want to talk to me..._

Behind him, he heard Tom groan and grunt as the demonicite slid out from inside the navicomputer and picked himself up off the floor. "What was that all about?"

"What was what?" Marco asked.

"Star sounded like she was mad at you or something."

"...She kinda is, I think."

Stretching his muscles that had grown stiff from hours of lying on the floor, Tom came over and sat down beside Marco. "Why is she mad at you?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it."

The overhead lights flickered back on, and the darkness in the cockpit was erased. Marco noticed the concerned expression on Tom's face, all three of his eyes seeming to simultaneously say, "Talk to us." Marco looked away, standing up once more. "C'mon. We should get back to work."

* * *

Star took Janna's hand and steadied the Captain as she climbed out of the _Raventalon_'s fusion reactor for the fourth time that day. They'd spent nearly the entire previous day replacing the stator bearings, and once the bearings were removed they had found that the splines on the drive motor shaft that turns the bearings had been sheered off, adding more time to the reactor repairs.

"Everything looks good in there?" Star asked as Janna hopped back to the floor.

Captain Ordonia brushed herself off. "I hope so. The bearings probably need adjusting, so we'll have to dry-cycle it and see." She wiped her brow. "Let's go up to the main deck and see how the boys are getting on, and see if we can have Marco cycle the reactor for us so we can check the stator alignment."

Janna noticed Star's demeanor completely change at the very mention of Marco's name, just as it had earlier when she'd spoken to him on the commlink. "M'kay," was her only response.

_I may need to move talking to Star about whatever is going on with her and Marco a few notches up on the priority list_, Janna thought as they climbed the stairs.

"Hey, guys," Janna greeted the boys as she entered the cockpit.

Tom was still on the floor with his head inside the navicomputer case, and called out a muffled, "Hey!"

Marco turned around, catching sight of Star in the doorway, and his heart skipped a beat in surprise. "Star! Uh, hi!" She said nothing. "H-h-how are you, uh, doing? I feel like I haven't seen you at all in, like, two days."

"Yeah," she said quietly. Her eyes locked on the floor. Marco had never seen her like this. When he talked to her on the comm, she had sounded annoyed, ticked off. But in person...

...she was just quiet. Marco didn't think he'd ever seen Star give a one-word response in the entire time he'd known her.

The room became uncomfortably silent save for sound of Tom trying to pull his wedged horns out from the access panel again.

"You know, I'm here, too," Janna reminded Marco sarcastically, trying to relieve some of the awkwardness in the room.

Marco was feeling frozen in place and was grateful for any reason to turn away from his best friend. "Oh, yeah, hi, Janna."

No eyes on her any longer, Star entered the cockpit and sat down on the floor beside PY-HD. The astromech droid beeped happily as Star affectionately leaned against it.

Tom groaned as he finally hauled himself to his feet. Janna shot her copilot a questioning look, her eyes motioning to Star and Marco. Tom's only response was a shrug and a look of confusion.

"So," Janna began a little bit more loudly than necessary, "did you guys make any progress with the navicomputer?"

Tom gave a nervous chuckle. "Define 'progress.' Pony, can you try to boot it up?"

The droid twittered affirmatively and rotated its interface in the computer terminal socket, remaining as still as possible as to not disturb the Jedi Padawan leaning against it. The navicomputer whirred briefly, the output screen illuminating and displaying a few lines of data before going dark again. Fizzling electricity could be heard inside the case and a few wisps of white smoke drifted from the gaps in the panels. PY-HD buzzed in alarm.

Janna grimaced. "Yeah, that is definitely not how I define 'progress.'"

Tom rubbed the back of his neck and collapsed into the chair behind the pilot's seat. "I think something in the circuit board is shorted out, it's probably toast."

"Darn!" Janna shook her head. "We can worry about that later. Star and I have the reactor put back together and we need you guys to control it from up here so we can check the bearing adjustment."

"Why don't you show Marco how to do that, and while he's cycling the reactor for you, I can try to remove the circuitboard and see if it's repairable?" Tom suggested.

Marco had been feeling rather useless helping Tom, so he was eager for something to do that would be productive. "I can do that. Show me what to do."

Janna nodded. "Alright. C'mon, Diaz." She lead Marco over to the pilot's seat.

Meanwhile, Tom was looking at Star, who was still leaning against PY-HD. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was in pain. _I am so confused. What happened between those two?_

"Okay," Janna began, pointing to the switches she wanted Marco to activate. "This is the reactor fuel pump control. I only want to dry-cycle the reactor to check the stator bearing adjustment, so you have to make sure this is 'off.' The switch is spring-loaded to return to 'on' when the reactor is shut down, so you have to shut it off every time before you start."

"What happens if I don't shut that off?" Marco asked.

"Considering that we don't have the upper reactive chamber cover on, you'll probably cause an explosion that, if it doesn't rip the ship in half, will definitely kill me and Star."

Marco flinched. "Okay, really important. Don't forget to shut that off."

"This lever over here is the power diverter to the stator motor, so that has to be 'on', but only give it about 10% power. Then this switch over here is the circuit cut-off to the stator motor, so once you flip that 'on' the motor will start spinning. If I tell you to shut it off, just flip it back and then make sure you push the power diverter back to zero. Got it?"

Marco nodded. "Got it."

"I'll call you on the comm when I want you to start it."

"Okay. I'll go grab my commlink from the other room." Marco quickly slipped out of the cockpit, hoping the girls might be back down on the lower deck by the time he returned.

Janna came back around the seats to the rear of the cockpit, stopping beside where Star was still sitting on the floor against PY-HD. "Ready, Star?"

The girl in question nodded slowly. "Mhm." She gave the astromech a pat on the dome and got to her feet while Tom wondered why she looked so completely dejected. The girls left, heading back to the reactor room, and a few moments later, Marco returned, commlink in hand.

Tom sighed as Marco hopped into the pilot's seat. "Okay, Dude, seriously. What is going on between you and Star? You're both acting really weird around each other and I wanna know what's going on."

Marco kept his focus locked on the controls. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Tom shook his head. "Marco, if we're ever going to get out of..." He looked out the view screen at the empty blackness beyond. "...wherever we are...we're gonna have to work as a team, and right now, Star looks like she's avoiding you, and that means we are not all on the same team. So I am gonna help you sort this out."

"Don't you have a circuit board you're supposed to be pulling out?"

PY-HD squeaked something that sounded like "Oh, snap!" as Tom blinked in surprise. "Uh...I mean...yeah...but I think this is equally important."

Marco opened his mouth to say something else, but the commlink in his hand began to chime. He answered it.

_"Yo, Marco. You ready?"_

"I'm ready, Janna."

_"Good. Fire it up."_

Marco flicked the fuel pump off, increased the power handle to 10% and flicked up the stator motor start switch. Elsewhere in the ship, there was a terrible metallic clanging sound. Tom and Marco both cringed.

_"Kill it! Kill it!" _Janna yelled over the comm.

Marco quickly hit the motor cutoff and returned the power diverter to 0%. An audible click came from the control panel as the fuel pump control switch clicked back to the 'on' position.

"That didn't sound good," Marco observed.

"No, it did not," Tom agreed, "Now tell me what's going on with you and Star."

The Jedi Padawan swiveled halfway around to look at his friend. "No chance you're gonna drop this, is there?"

"Nope."

"There is no way for you to fix it. Trust me."

"Tell me anyway."

Marco gave an exasperated sigh. "But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone. Especially not Janna."

"I promise I won't tell Janna, but, seriously, who else would I tell? There's only five of us onboard."

Marco had completely forgotten that PY-HD was in the cockpit with them. He looked past Tom and saw the astromech no longer plugged into its computer terminal and instead facing him with its big photoreceptor aimed directly at his face, seemingly waiting anxiously for him to speak.

"Pony Head, you can't tell Star or Janna."

The droid whistled something that sounded like it was feigning offense. Marco squinted at the droid, then at Tom. "I do not trust that droid one bit."

The droid whistled indignantly followed by a few stuck-up sounding chirps.

"What did she say?" Marco asked.

"She said, and I quote, 'Hey, I heard that! I'll have you know, I'm great at keeping secrets.'"

Marco narrowed his eyes at PY-HD a second time. "You'd better be." Then he looked back at Tom and took a deep breath. "Okay, how do I put this..?"

The commlink chirped. _"Try it again, Marco!" _Janna said.

"On it!" Marco turned back to the control panel, repeated the control commands, and the clanging noise returned, though not quite as loudly, from somewhere near the stern.

_"Shut it down!"_

"Shutting it down!" He flipped the cutoff switch and the clanging slowed to a stop.

Tom cleared his throat.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm getting to it." Marco exhaled loudly through his nose. "Umm...I'm breaking the Jedi code."

Tom's brow furrowed in confusion. "Huh? How?"

"Heh, I don't think specifically how is really important," Marco said quickly. "What is important is that Star doesn't know about it. I was going to tell her right before we made our lightspeed jump from Coruscant because I was pretty sure we weren't going to make it and I, uh, decided I didn't want to die without her knowing."

Tom looked confused. "Why would you care if Star knew or not before we died? By the way, thanks for having so much confidence in me and Janna's piloting skills," he added jokingly. "Does it have something to do with her?"

Marco quickly looked away out the viewscreen and hoped his face wasn't turning red. He decided to ignore Tom's question and just continue. "Anyway, then we sort of had other things to worry about what with the overloading hyperdrive and loss of control and all, so I guess it kinda slipped both our minds until well after we were out of immediate danger. She asked me later on what it was I was going to tell her..." Marco's shoulders slumped and he hung his head. "...but I just couldn't do it."

The commlink chimed. _"Again, Marco!"_

"Yup." Fuel pump, power distributor, circuit cutoff. Silence. _  
_

_"Shoot, I think we adjusted too far. Now there's too much clearance. Shut it down, Marco."_

"On it." Circuit cutoff, power distributor, *click.* Switch off commlink. Marco sighed, but said no more.

Tom turned and glanced at PY-HD, shooting the droid a look meant to convey _Am I missing something?_ If bleeped back "I don't get it," in response. Tom shrugged and turned back to Marco. "Sooooo..."

"Star and I have never kept any secrets from each other. We tell each other everything, we always have. And I guess her knowing that there's something I don't want to tell her really hurt her feelings."

"Why can't you tell her?"

Marco shook his head sadly. "She always says that I can tell her anything because we're best friends, but I'm afraid if I tell her this...we may not be able to be friends anymore."

PY-HD whistle-bleeped something and Tom nodded in agreement. "Yeah, probably," he said to the droid.

Marco narrowed his eyes again. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Pony and I just think you're in love with Star."

Marco felt like his mouth was actively working against him. "Wha- Why- D-don't- Of course I'm not!"

"...Are you sure?"

Marco was trying very hard to keep from gritting his teeth. "What could possibly make you think...that I'm in love with Star?"

"You just said you're breaking the Jedi Code, and having romantic feelings and becoming emotionally attached to someone is definitely something that isn't allowed, right? And you totally ignored me when I asked if the thing you couldn't tell Star was something to do with her, which means the answer is yes, it does have to do with her. Plus, when we were hiding out on Coruscant, the two of you were both acting awfully...flirty, at times. Janna noticed, too. And, unless Star was sleeping on the floor, you two were sharing my bunk when your leg was healing."

Marco blushed bright red. "So what if we were? Best friends can't share a sleeping space?"

"Janna's my best friend. If you were me, would you want to sleep in the same bed as her?"

"Dude, if I were _married _to Janna, I wouldn't want to sleep in the same bed as her."

"...Okay, I can't really argue with you on that. What about the rest, though? Was I wrong?"

"Uhhhh..."

Tom shook his head and PY-HD swiveled her dome back and forth to mimic Tom's expression. "Stop trying to deny it, dude. You have feelings for your best friend. Janna and I both noticed it."

The commlink chimed. So excited was Marco for any excuse to change the subject that he snatched it up with such haste that he nearly sent it flying across the cockpit. "Yes! Janna! I am on it!" he nearly yelled into the receiver before Janna even had a chance to say anything.

_"...okay, cool."_

Marco flipped his controls and the earlier clanging sound returned, but very softly.

_"Darn, we went back too much. Shut it down."_

Marco shut down the reactor and switched off the commlink yet again. Something Tom had said a few minutes ago was stuck in his head. "Tom, did you say that Star and I _both _looked like we were both flirting? Like...with each other?"

"Uh, Yeah. I did."

"So...do you think...?"

PY-HD whistled something very loudly.

"What'd she say?"

"'That Star is in love with you? Yes,'" Tom translated. "And, I agree with her. Well, to a degree. Heh, I made a rhyme. I don't know if Star is _in love _with you, but when we were on Coruscant, I could tell that she definitely has some degree of feelings for you. The way she acted toward you was...different...than how I've seen her act in the past."

Marco found himself involuntarily smiling. PY-HD noticed and starting relaying some very mocking beeps.

"See?" Tom said with a knowing grin. "You _like _the idea of Star being in love with you. Because you're in love with her, too." The demonicite stood up. "I think you know now what you need to talk about with her."

"Yeah...I guess I do."

Without another word, Tom stood and strolled back over to the navicomputer. He pulled over his tool kit to begin disassembling the case.

"Hey, Tom?"

He turned around and looked back at Marco.

"Thank you," the Padawan said with a smile.

"I got you, bro."

PY-HD beeped indignantly.

Marco chuckled. "You too, Pony Head. Thank you." Marco's commlink chimed again and he answered it. "I'm on it, Janna."

Marco was already reaching for the fuel pump kill when Janna cut him off. _"Actually, Marco, we have to take the stator armature out of the reactor. It's bent and we gotta straighten it out. Shouldn't take too long."_

* * *

_"__O__h, okay, I'll hang tight up here."_

Janna clicked the commlink off and set it down in her tool kit. "Alright," she said, "Let's take the armature back off again." Star watched Janna hop up onto the reactor and slide down inside through the open top. A moment after she disappeared, Janna's hand popped up through the opening again. "Wrench, please." Star grabbed the wrench from the tool kit and placed it in Janna's hand. "Thank you." The arm and tool vanished back inside the reactive chamber. "So, Star," Janna's voice came from inside, "I've been wanting to ask you, what is going on between you and Marco?"

"Nothing is going on."

"That's a lie. For a second time."

Star gasped, feigning offense. "I am not lying!"

"Yes, you are. You wouldn't even hardly look at Marco when we were up in the cockpit before, let alone talk to him. You snapped at him on the comm, too. I asked if you were mad at him and you said you weren't, but you're obviously upset about something." Her hand popped up through the top of the reactor again. "Thermal decoupler, please."

Star fetched the tool and handed it to Janna. "Alright, fine. I'm not mad at Marco, I'm just...I don't even know. Hurt, I guess."

"Why's that?" Janna's voice strained slightly as she forced loose a threaded connector. "Do you need me to hurt him for you?"

"No! Nothing that bad."

"What is it then?"

"Back when we were escaping from Coruscant, he said there was something he needed to tell me, something he said he wished he'd told me sooner, but then we made the lightspeed jump and we kinda had other things to worry about and he never actually told me." Star paced back and forth across the room as she talked, making gestures with her hands that Janna could not see due to being inside of a fusion reactor. "Then I asked him to tell me and he said he couldn't." She sighed. "I guess I just feel hurt that he feels like he has to keep something from me. I thought he knew by now that he could tell me anything."

"He's in love with you." Janna's hand popped out of the reactor. "Pry bar, please."

"Say what now?"

"Pry bar, plea-"

"Not that, the first thing!"

"Oh, right. I said he's in love with you. Pry bar, please." Janna's fingers beckoned for the tool.

Star fished the pry bar out of the tool kit. "What makes you think Marco's in love with me?" she asked desperately as she handed it Janna.

"Um, because it's so painfully obvious that I can't believe you haven't noticed. Plus, completely ignoring the- grrrr...hang on." Janna grunted as she strained against the pry bar and the stator armature popped free from the upper bearing. Gently holding it to the side, she was easily able to pop it out of the lower bearing. "Here, Star, grab this." She hefted the heavy durasteel armature up through the open access hatch.

Star grasped the top and began trying to lift it out of the reactor. "This thing weighs a ton!" She pulled it halfway out and then stopped. "Oh, what am I doing? Duh!" She let go with one hand and concentrated on the stator armature with the Force, letting go with her other hand as it floated gently upward out of the reactor. She guided it carefully down to the floor.

Janna popped out of the access hatch, trying to suppress a smile. "Forgot you were a Jedi for a second there?"

"Oh, shut up. What were you saying?"

Grinning mischievously to herself, Janna hopped back to the floor. "Let's take a look at this thing," she said, completely ignoring Star's question. She knelt down on the floor beside the armature while Star looked over her shoulder. "Doesn't look bent to me," Star said. "Now tell me!"

"Oh, it's bent, alright." Janna grabbed a long, thin case from her tool kit and popped it open. Inside was nothing but a narrow polished rectangle of durasteel. "This is my straight-edge. This thing is precisely calibrated to be perfectly straight. Watch." When she gently laid the straight edge against the side of the armature, the two pieces did not make contact along their full lengths. Janna rocked the straight edge back and forth along the bent section. "See? We gotta make this perfectly straight or it will make contact with the inside of the reactive chamber."

"Ohhh, okay. I see. Tell me now?"

Janna grabbed a mallet and rolled the stator armature flat against the floor. She pounded on it a few times, then checked it with the straight edge again. It was still off, so she repeated the process until she was satisfied that the armature had been restored to its former shape. Every time she stopped hammering to check it with the straight edge, Star would try to get her attention by saying, "Janna." And every time, Janna would pretend not to have heard.

"Ah, there we go," Janna said, checking the armature one final time. "Well within acceptable tolerances."

"Greaaaat," Star said sarcastically. "Now finish saying what you were saying before!"

Janna chuckled to herself. "Alright, I guess I've kept you in suspense long enough. But can you 'Force' this thing back into the reactor while I tell you? Carefully."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, totally, totally. You were saying?" Star held up her hands and directed the armature as it floated up off the floor.

"What I was saying was, if you ignore how flirty he was being with you after we rescued you guys, it's still obvious that Marco is in love with you."

"Why's that?" Star slowly lowered her hands and finessed the armature back inside the reactor as carefully as she could.

"You said that he said he had something he wanted to tell you, and that he said that he wished he had told you sooner, and then you said that he said afterwords that he couldn't tell you. ...That has to be the single most confusing sentence that's ever come out of my mouth. Anyway, what else could that thing have possibly been? Think about it. Marco has always been super excited to become a Jedi...for some reason. And last time I checked, developing romantic feelings for anyone, especially another Jedi, is a good way to get your Force-card revoked."

"Not really how that works." The armature safely back inside the reactor, Star relaxed her hands and turned back to face Janna. "But I get what you mean."

"Right. Marco probably didn't want to go against 'The Jedi Way.'" Janna rolled her eyes and made quotes with her fingers. "So he didn't tell, well, anyone, because he didn't want anyone to think he was breaking the very, very, dumb rules. But also, probably equally if not more importantly, he's probably afraid that if he tells you and you don't love him back, that it'll make your friendship awkward and he may even lose it altogether."

"But that's silly! I could never stop being friends with Marco!"

"Exactly, because you're in love with him."

"That's ri-! Wait, what?"

Janna made a motion with her hand. "You are, aren't you?"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat makes you think that?"

"You were being just as flirty with Marco when we were hiding out as he was with you," Janna said with a teasing smile. "And you slept with him while his leg was healing."

Star blushed bright red. "We never-!"

"I meant you were sharing a bunk. Seriously, Star, get your mind out of the trash compactor."

Star's face turned even redder. "Right, right."

"Sooooo...am I right, or what?"

"Huh?" Star's mind was still preoccupied with the previous thought. "Right about what?"

"That you're in love with Marco."

The young Padawan turned away, her face still flush with embarrassment. "...Yes."

"I KNEW IT!"

Star couldn't help but giggle at Janna's enthusiasm. "Why does that make you so excited?"

"I just really like being right." Janna jumped up atop the reactor. "Now c'mon. Let's get this thing back together so we can actually have power again. I've never had to use the deep-cycle batteries for power...like...ever...and I don't know how long they're gonna last."

Feeling much more upbeat than she had ten minutes ago, Star excitedly assisted Janna in climbing back inside the reactive chamber. "Yeah! Let's get this puppy back online so I can go make out-up! Up! I meant make up! With Marco!"

Janna decided to let that one go. She just smiled and shook her head as she hefted the stator armature back into place.

* * *

_"Shut it down, Marco! Just one little tweak and I think we'll have it."_

"Roger that!" Marco shut down the reactor yet again.

"Oh, Pony, this is not good," Tom muttered behind him. The droid bleeped in agreement. They'd managed to extract the main printed circuitboard from inside the navicomputer and the demonicite and astromech were examining it together. Part of the board was scorched black.

"How bad is it?" Marco asked.

"Bad enough that if we had any other choice I'd just throw it away," Tom replied. "Unfortunately, we're gonna have to try to fix it. The good news is that this kind of repair is one of the things Pony Head here was built for. Right, Pony?"

PY-HD whistle-beeped and folded out a few accessories, one of which included a tiny electro-welder for repairing printed circuitboards.

"It still won't be a quick or easy task and there's no guarantee it even _is _fixable, but if it is, Pony will get it done," said Tom. "Eventually." The droid jabbed Tom in the side with spike on its dome. "Yow!" Tom took several hasty steps away from the droid. "You know, one of these days, I'm gonna take that thing off you!"

The commlink chimed again, interrupting Marco's laughter. "Ready, Janna?"

_"Yup! Try it now!"_

One last time, Marco flipped the fuel pump off, diverted 10% power and flicked the circuit cut-off switch to "on." A moment later, a low hum emanated from somewhere near the stern.

_"Alright! Now we're talking! __P__erfect! Shut it down so we can put the upper reactive chamber cover back on, and then we'll come up and we can fire the reactor up for real!"_

"Awesome! Shutting it down," Marco said as he undid the controls for the last time. "Great job, you guys!"

_"I know,"_ Janna said, sounding not even remotely modest.

* * *

"Everything looking good on the sensors, Pony?" Janna asked. The droid beeped affirmatively. "Alright! The _Raventalon_ is officially back under power!"

Tom, Star and Marco all cheered.

"Not that we can actually do anything with it besides charge the auxiliary power reserves," Tom reminded everyone, "but at least one of the many things that were damaged is fixed!"

Star gave him a slap on the back. "It's a start!"

Janna leaned back in the pilot's seat. "Well, I've had enough for one day. Let's get some grub." She began to make her way out of the cockpit, Tom following close behind.

Star and Marco looked at each other, the first time they'd made eye contact in several days. Neither made any move to join their friends.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Tom asked when he noticed they weren't following.

"We'll, uh...catch up in a few," said Star.

Tom nodded, figuring the two Jedi needed a little space. "Take your time." He spotted PY-HD still sitting by the computer terminal. "Come on, Pony, I bet your power cells are getting low. I'll put you on to recharge."

The droid beeped a reply which Star roughly understood as, "No, thank you, I'm good."

Tom lowered his eyes. "Pony..." He motioned for it to follow him with his eyes. Exasperation flowed out of the droid as PY-HD begrudgingly followed Tom out of the cockpit.

And so, Star and Marco were left alone. They stared at each other, neither knowing where to even start.

"Sta-"

"Marc-"

"Sorry, you go first," Marco offered politely.

Star didn't want to go first. She'd only started to say something to break the silence. _What do I even say? Where do I start? Should I just say it? _

_Maybe now isn't the best time. If Janna was wrong about his feelings, I don't want him to feel trapped. __L__iterally__. _

_Maybe...maybe for now I just apologize and make out-UP! MAKE UP!_

_Okay, calm down, Butterfly. He's your best friend. Just talk to him._

_I know what to say. _

"Marco...I'm sorry. I know I always tell you that you're my best friend and that you can tell me anything, and...I still believe that. But...if there's something that you don't want to tell me, I should trust you enough by now to understand that you must have a good reason for not wanting to tell me. I'm sorry for...avoiding you and not wanting to talk to you." She smiled at him nervously and took his hand. "Can we please just...go back? I love Janna and I like hanging out with her, but I really miss my best friend."

Marco was shocked. For a second he just stared, his eyes locked on Star's, unsure what to say. "I...I've missed you, too, Star." He squeezed her hand. "More than you realize..."

_Janna was right!_ thought Star.

"I'm sorry for not just saying what I started to tell you," Marco went on. "I was going to tell you now...so that we could go back to being friends-"

"It's okay," Star interrupted. "You don't have to tell me." _It's not the time._"Besides..." _Wait, hang on. Where is my mouth going with this? _"I think I might already know what it is." _WHY did I just say that?!_

"You...you do?"

"Uh-" _Think of something fast, Butterfly! _"Oh, just a hunch." And she winked at him. _Okay, that was weird. Just stop, girl, you're gonna make it awkward again. _

Marco, meanwhile, was internally panicking while desperately trying to keep his face from showing it. _Does she know?! How could she know?_

_Maybe she just knows you that well. I mean, do you really think you made it that difficult to figure out?_

_I don't know! Shut up, me! And what was up with that wink? That was super weird._

"Marco?"_  
_

_Maybe she *really* knows and she winked because she loves you back. You should totally kiss her!_

_You know, for being my inner voice, you give terrible advice. _

_C'mon, you know you want to._

_Yeah, I know I want to! But that is a terrible idea! What if Tom was wrong?_

"Marco!"

Marco shook the thoughts away. "Huh?"

"You, uh, kinda zoned out there for a second."

Marco's face turned red and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously with his free hand. "Heh, sorry about that."

Star giggled. _He's such a dork. It's adorable. _"So...friends again?"

He grinned at her. "_Best _friends."

She smiled back. "I would accept nothing less." She let go of his hand and held out her arms. "Hug?"

"Yes, please."

Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz were best friends, and as such they had hugged many times before. But this particular hug was different. They held onto each other far more tightly and closely than they ever had before, both feeling a rush of calm and contentedness that they had never previously experienced.

Standing there in the cockpit of the _Raventalon_, each lost in the feeling of holding onto the one they secretly loved, nothing in the galaxy mattered anymore. Not the Jedi Order that had been destroyed, nor the Sith Lord who had pulled the figurative trigger; Not the inquisitor who had tried to kill Marco, nor the _Raventalon_'s current lack of motive power. Not even the Force mattered; not the light or the dark, the cosmic or the living halves, the midichlorians...none of it.

As they stood with their eyes closed, as far as they could tell, nothing even existed. In the entire universe, there was nothing but each other.

And because they both had their eyes closed, neither noticed the soft glow of light coming from the hearts on Star's cheeks, and from the previously invisible crescent moon's on Marco's.

And when they reluctantly broke apart, the glow vanished, and they rejoined Tom and Janna in the galley for some dinner, neither having any indication of the very peculiar phenomenon that just taken place.

**_[Author's Note Redacted]_**

* * *

**(Don't forget to review!)**


	13. Nightmares

**Coffee isn't called "coffee" in Star Wars. It's called "caf." Go figure. ****  
**

**Also,**** thankfully for Star, ****sugar ****does ****canonically**** exist in the Star ****Wars ****universe thanks to its mention by name in the canon novel ****_Heir to _****_the Jedi. _****  
**

Some beings loath space travel. They find the empty vastness of space combined with the confines of their spacecraft to be maddeningly both claustrophobic and agoraphobic at the same time.

Captain Ordonia, on the other hand, had no qualms whatsoever with extended trips through space. Always a rebellious one who wasn't keen to follow society's expectations of her, Janna loved being anywhere where she could be herself, ignore social conventions, and do what she pleased. Takodonna was one such place, as were most desert worlds, but nowhere did she feel more free and at ease than on her own ship far from any semblance of society, in the infinite vacuum of space. There were times when, while Tom was off conducting business of his own, that she would jump to some random coordinates in deep space, far from any planet or space station, and just set her YV-560 freighter adrift, enjoying the peace and quiet of being completely alone. Some would consider that kind of extreme aloneness crushingly lonely. Janna found it very peaceful and relaxing.

And so, as the _Raventalon_ drifted along silently, interior lighting dimmed, the fusion reactor's soft hum lulled Janna into a deep and dreamless sleep.

But while Captain Ordonia was sleeping soundly in her bunk, Star and Marco were having nightmares.

* * *

_It began with voices. Two of them, right in front of Her, yet She could not see who they belonged to. They were familiar, but She could not place them. The words swirled around Her like a mist, making them difficult to understand. _

_"Star..." From among the gibberish, She was able to pick out Her name. "...Go...You must..."_

_And then She was suddenly traveling at a substantial rate, but She did not seem to be moving her body at all. Where was She? This place felt familiar. The blurred passing scenery was mostly greens and browns. Leaves. Trees. She was in woods. Familiar woods, but...where? She looked down. More green. A sandy color. Weeds. A path. _

_And then She came to a stop. There were screams. Lots of them. Blaster fire. A distant explosion._ _Everything around Her was a blur..._

_I've seen this before...somewhere..._

_A plume of smoke rose from over the assumed trees in the distance in the direction She had just come from. She watched it rise into the sky, coming from something that She could just see the tip of over the trees, but not enough detail to determine what it was. _

_"Star!" A familiar voice was calling out to Her, one She knew very well, and yet- _

_"Star! We have to go, Star!"_

_No. She did know that voice. It was a voice that She knew just as well as Her own. It was Marco, behind Her. A hand took Hers and She assumed it was his. He was trying to lead Her somewhere, but She could not see where. Her eyes were still watching the smoke curl into the atmosphere. _

_"Star! C'mon!"_

_She looked down. Her lightsaber was in Her free hand, the only thing in Her presence with any sort of clarity. She could feel it, almost pulsating, waiting. _

_For what? She had no idea. _

_But She knew what seemed like the right thing to do. _

_She ignited it._

* * *

_"Marco...Marco..."_

_He looked around. He could see nothing. There was only darkness. _

_"Hello?"_

_"Marco..."_

_"Who's there?" His voice echoed in the emptiness around Him. _

_"...Maaaarrrrcooooo..."_

_He reached for His belt and found his lightsaber. He pressed the activation plate and was surprised to see the azure blade of His original lightsaber ignite from the hilt. This was not Kit Fisto's lightsaber, but His own. _

_The pale blue light given off by the blade did little to show Him His surroundings. He was in a hallway, the bare and drab gray walls reminding Him of the few military installations He been in on Coruscant. _

_"Marco?"_

_That time, the voice was different. _

_"Hello?" He called out. _

_"Marco! Come here!"_

_"Yes, Marco! We have something we must show you!"_

_Holding the lightsaber aloft, He began searching for the source of the voices. He spotted an open doorway and hurried to it. The doorway lead to a large, dark room. The blue glow of His blade did not illuminate much of the space, and did not reveal the source of the voices. _

_"Anyone in here?"_

_A pair of emerald lightsaber blades suddenly ignited across the room, nearly fifty meters away. One was held by Kit Fisto, the other by Star. _

_"Marco!" Star shouted out to Him excitedly, waving her sword in greeting. _

_"There you are, Marco!" Kit called. "We have something to show you!"_

_Smiling at having found His two best friends, He hurried toward them at a jog._

_"Hurry up, Marco!" Star yelled. "We haven't got all day!"_

_He'd nearly reached them. Two dozen more steps and He'd be there. _

_Two shadowy figures suddenly appeared behind Kit and Star. He froze. "Guys!" He yelled in terror. "Behind-!"_

_Kit and Star screamed as red blades of light pierced their backs and erupted out of their chests. Master and Padawan fell to the floor, motionless, the green glow of their lightsabers replaced by the revealing red light held by the dark figures behind them. Star had been slain by the inquisitor that had chased Him across Coruscant, and Kit had fallen to the blade of Sheev Palpatine. _

_"No..." He gasped, taking a step backwards. "No!" _

_"Yessss," Palpatine hissed as he and the inquisitor stepped toward Him, quickly erasing the gap between them. _

_"No!" He barely realized that Kit's lightsaber had inexplicably appeared in His left hand beside His blue one on the right. _

_Palpatine crackled madly. _

_He found He could not move. He was frozen to the spot. _

_Palpatine's yellow eyes shone in the darkness, the light seeming to rival the red glow from his lightsaber. He smiled evilly at his prey, the inquisitor beside him silently mimicking the Emperor's movements. _

_His opponents raised their weapons in unison, and He brought his two blades to a defensive position. _

_They struck._

* * *

Marco bolted upright, panting for breath as if he'd just run several klicks at a dead sprint. He looked around, making sure he was no longer in the strange empty room. All he could see was the _Raventalon_'s crew lounge, where he'd been sleeping on the small, curved couch.

"Just a dream," he whispered to himself. He plopped back down flat on his back and rubbed his face with his hands.

"Marco?"

He quickly sat up again, startled by how much the voice sounded like his nightmare. Star stood in the doorway to the crew lounge, still wearing her blue dress but lacking her horns and boots and looking both sleepy and confused. In a split second, Marco leapt up and bounded over to her, taking her by surprise when he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Uh, happy to see me?" she asked jokingly as she hugged him back. Confused as she was, Star never turned down a hug from her best friend.

He squeezed her even tighter. "Yeah, actually. I am." He loosened his grip, holding her gently by the shoulders so that he could see her face. "I just had a terrible nightmare. And you...uh...died in it."

Star jumped slightly. "That's funny."

Never in his life had Marco been so confused by a two word sentence. "In what way is that funny?"

"Not funny haha, funny weird. I just had a super weird dream, too. I don't know that I'd call it a nightmare, but it did wake me up. That's why I'm awake."

Releasing her, Marco sat down on the couch. "What happened?"

She took a seat beside him. "I almost don't know. Everything was all like swirly and misty and I couldn't really tell what the heck was going on. All I know is, wherever I was, it felt strangely familiar. Oh, and you were there, too. I think."

"You think?"

She rubbed her temple with the heel of her hand. "I can't remember. What little bit of it I could see and hear starting fading away from my memory as soon as I woke up." She very lightly punched him in the arm. "What happened in your dream?"

Marco hesitated, not particularly wanting to relive that experience. Nonetheless, he recounted the dream as best he could remember it while Star listened with rapt attention.

"Yikes," she said with a grimace when he'd finished. "That's...super-duper creepy and weird."

"I practically jumped out of bed when it woke me up. It just felt so real!"

Star leaned against him and placed a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Well, don't worry. I'm still here."

He gave a small smile and put one arm around her, returning her half hug. "I'm glad you are."

They sat in silence for a few moments, each drawing comfort from the other's mere presence. Then Marco spoke.

"By the way, have you thought about where we should go? When we eventually escape deep space, I mean."

"Huh." Star put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "You know, I keep forgetting that we actually need to figure that out. I haven't thought about it at all." She yawned. "And at the moment..."

Marco chuckled. "Yeah, I'm too tired to think about it right now, too."

"We should probably try to go back to sleep." Star stood up, stretching her tired joints. "Goodnight, Marco."

"'Night, Star." When she'd barely left the room, he called out, "Star! Wait!"

She turned around and looked back into the crew lounge at her best friend. "Yeah?"

_Am I actually going to ask her this? _"Um...could...could you..." _I don't believe it, I actually am!_ "...stay? Here? With me? I...I don't want to be alone."

Star blinked a few times, Marco finding it difficult to read her thoughts based on the expression on her face. His heart thumped progressively harder the longer she remained silent.

At last, she answered.

"There's more room with me in Tom's cabin," she said simply.

Marco wasn't even sure how to respond. For a moment, he just stared in shock.

"You coming or what? I'm sleepy," Star said with another yawn.

"Yes."

For the rest of the night, the two best friends slept side-by-side in Tom's bunk with a respectful amount of space between them. No more dreams were had by either, and they slept soundly until PY-HD came and banged against the door to wake them for breakfast.

* * *

Tom groaned as he rubbed his neck.

"What's your problem, Lucy?" Janna asked as she stirred her caf.

"My neck is killing me. I slept in the copilot's seat last night and my head was all like leaned over on my shoulder and now it's all stiff and aches like crazy."

"Got tired of sleeping in the cargo hold, huh?"

Tom nodded, which only made his neck hurt worse. "I really thought the cockpit would be more comfortable. I was wrong."

Janna sat down beside him and kicked her feet up on the edge of the table. "My offer still stands, you know."

"If we're stuck out here much longer, I might actually have to take you up on that."

PY-HD beeped mockingly as it rolled into the room, followed by the two Jedi Padawans.

"Pony! Shut up! It's not like that!" Tom whisper-shouted in embarrassment.

"Not like what, Tom?" Star asked.

"Nothing!" The Demonicite turned red and quickly looked away.

Janna shook her head and grinned smugly.

"What's for breakfast this 'morning'?" Marco asked, making air quotes around "morning."

"Scrambled gorg eggs," Tom answered, still rubbing his sore neck. "Still in the pan, over there on the stovetop." He pointed with his other hand.

"By the way," Janna said as Star and Marco divided up what was left in the pan between the two of them, "that's the very last of the actual food onboard. From here on out it's supply bars, nutrient sticks, and ration packs."

The Padawans sat down opposite Tom and Janna. "How long will your emergency food last?" Star asked.

Janna shrugged indifferently. "Three months, give or take a week."

"Three months?!" Star and Marco exclaimed in unison.

"Why in the galaxy do you have that much emergency food supply?" Marco asked.

Janna shrugged and took a sip of her caf before replying. "Technically, this ship was built to carry up to eight months of supplies. The YV-560 was purpose built for extended orbiting of planets. I don't carry eight months of supplies because I don't plan on orbiting any planets and that space could be used to haul more cargo."

"Even so, though! Three months worth of supplies?" Star asked. "That still seems...excessive."

"When you're in the smuggling business, you deal almost exclusively with people who are doing illegal stuff. At some point, you're gonna have a customer that wants to kill you for one reason or another. Sometimes you end up having to lay low for extended periods of time."

Tom picked up the explanation. "First time it happened to us, we took shelter on Orto Plutonia and had to stay there for a month and a half. We only had two weeks worth of supplies on board." He shook his head slowly, still massaging his neck. "That was not a fun time."

Janna set down her caf. "After that, I swore I would never be unprepared again. That's why I have so many spare parts onboard, too. This is an old ship, stuff breaks. And I keep a couple months' worth of non-perishables onboard because you never know when someone may be out to kill you...or your friends, and you end up getting stranded in deep space helping them escape." She took another sip of her caf and tapped the side of the cup when she lowered it from her mouth. "Oh, and there's still plenty of this, too."

Marco finished his last bite of scrambled gorg egg. "Well, thank goodness you're so prepared, then."

Star wiped her mouth off. "So now that we got the fusion reactor back online, what's next?"

"Pony Head is going to work on the guts from the navicomputer and see if she can do anything with them. And the port side sublight engine and hyperdrive need to be addressed." She turned to Tom. "Can you and Marco handle the engine? I made a list of the parts that need to be replaced, nothing too difficult."

"Sure," Tom replied. "We shouldn't have a problem with that."

"Cool. While you guys are doing that, Star and I will remove the mortifications we made to the backup hyperdrive for our slingshot system so that it can actually function as a hyperdrive again. I bet we can have it all done by the end of the 'day' tomorrow." This time it was Janna's turn to make air quotes.

"Sounds doable," Tom said.

Janna stood up from the table and chugged down the rest of her caf. "Sweet. I'm gonna brush my teeth and then let's get to work."

* * *

After a relatively uneventful day of repairs to the _Raventalon_, Janna returned to her cabin and Tom reluctantly accepted her invitation to sleep in her bunk beside her and avoid another sore neck.

Janna folded her arms and smiled smugly. "So you finally couldn't resist your captain's charms any longer," she joked.

Tom could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. "Janna, I just want to actually get a good night's sleep and not wake up with a terrible pain in my neck," said Tom defensively. "If sharing a bunk with you is the only way for that to happen, then it's going to be polite and completely uneventful."

Tom went to the refresher for some privacy to change into his nightclothes while Janna did the same in her cabin. When he returned, he said a curt "Goodnight" to Captain Ordonia and climbed onto the bunk. He rolled onto his side facing away from Janna up against the wall to give her as much space as possible. Janna, on the other hand, was not going to pass up the opportunity to make her copilot uncomfortable. Once she was sure he was asleep, she scooted over closer to him until her arm was just barely touching his back, hoping she'd wake up before he did so that she wouldn't miss the look on his face when he realized that the two of them were making contact in bed.

Star, meanwhile, returned to Tom's cabin, and Marco returned to the crew lounge, neither feeling confident enough to ask the other to spend the night in close proximity despite the fact that they both really, really wanted to.

Once again, both had nightmares.

* * *

_...And then She was suddenly traveling at a substantial rate, but She did not seem to be moving_ _her body at all. Where was She? This place felt familiar. The blurred passing scenery was mostly greens and browns. Leaves. Trees. She was in woods. Familiar woods, but-_

_Wait...__t__he __way __the scenery was passing__. __It was passing backwards. And She was far too high __o__ff the ground to be standing on Her __o__wn two legs. _

_She was being carried. Someone very large was holding Her over their shoulder. That's why She was traveling so quickly and yet not moving_ _any of her extremities. Who was carrying Her? She tried to turn Her head, but found She could not. Her eyes were affixed upon wherever they had come from. _

_And then She stopped. Whoever had been carrying her set Her down and She once again stood on Her own__. __There were screams. Lots of them. Blaster fire. A distant explosion._ _Everything around Her was a blur..._

_...but not as blurry as before. She still could not move to look around, but in Her peripheral vision above Her head was part of the _Raventalon._ She must be standing at the bottom of the boarding ramp. _

_A plume of smoke rose from over the trees far in the distance in the direction She had just come from. She watched it rise into the sky, coming from something that she could just see the tip of over the trees, but not enough detail to determine what it was. She began to walk in that direction, slowly, as if in a trance. She made it a dozen steps before-_

_"Star!" A familiar voice was calling out to Her. Marco. Behind Her. _

_"Star! We have to go, Star!" _

_He took Her hand. She did not look at him. He was trying to lead Her back to the _Raventalon_. _

_Why? Where do we have to go? Why do we have to leave? It feels...like I need to stay. _

_Like I have to stay. _

_"Star! C'mon!"_

_She looked down. Her lightsaber was in Her free hand, the only thing with any sort of clarity. She could feel it, almost pulsating, waiting. _

_For what?_

_Only one way to find out. _

_She ignited it. _

_"Star, what are you doing?!" Marco yelled. _

_She broke free of his grasp._

* * *

Star opened her eyes. Her mouth was desert-dry. She felt like she had been breathing through her mouth for an hour.

Slowly, she rose from the bunk and headed out the door to the galley for a drink.

Something caught her attention as she passed by the crew lounge. A tremor in the Force, strong enough for her to feel without even trying to sense something.

Someone...was in pain.

Poking her head into the doorway, Star could see Marco asleep on the small, curved couch. As silently as she could, she crept into the room. "Marco?" she whispered.

Marco's eyes were clenched tightly shut, the lower lip of his half-open mouth trembling as if he were crying. Then Star realized that somehow he _was_ crying in his sleep. Marco's cheeks glistened in the dim light from the corridor outside.

"Marco?"

* * *

_"No..." He gasped, taking a step backwards. "No!" _

_"Yessss," Palpatine hissed as he and the inquisitor stepped toward Him, quickly erasing the gap between them. _

_"No!" He barely realized that Kit's lightsaber had inexplicably appeared in His left hand. _

_Palpatine crackled madly. _

_He found He could not move. He was frozen to the spot. _

_Palpatine's yellow eyes shone in the darkness, the light seeming to rival the red glow from his lightsaber. He smiled evilly at his prey, the inquisitor beside him mimicking the Emperor's movements. _

_They raised their weapons in unison. _

_His own lightsaber in His right hand, Kit Fisto's in His left, holding them out defensively, each one took a crashing blow from an angry red laser sword. He strained to hold back the pressing blades, but two opponents pressing against Him with all of their strength was too much for Him alone. His knees buckled and He dropped to the floor, holding the lightsabers above His head to hold back His attackers._

_Palpatine cackled. _

_"Marco!"_

* * *

Marco awoke with a start, sucking in a gasp of air and shaking as if he were freezing cold. Star was kneeling on the floor beside him.

"Marco! Are you alright?" The next thing Star knew, Marco was throwing his arms around her neck and hugging her tightly. "Had another nightmare?" Marco just nodded. "So did I."

Marco released her and met her eyes, still trembling. "What was yours?"

"Same thing as last night. Except it was a little clearer. And a little longer before I woke up."

"No way! That's the same thing that happened in mine! It was the same dream again, but slightly longer." Marco thought for a second. "What else happened in yours?"_  
_

"Not a lot. I..." Star closed her eyes and rubbed her temple, trying to remember. "I can't remember. It fades away so quickly when I wake up..." She shook her head. "I remember that there was more to it, but...I don't remember what actually happened. What about you?"

"It wasn't much more." Marco told her the extra part of his dream.

"That's a little bit extra creepy," Star described it.

"Yeah."

For a moment, they sat quietly in the dark crew lounge, neither side knowing what to say.

"Have you ever had nightmares before?" Star eventually asked.

"Not since I was like seven."

"Yeah, me too, me too. I was maybe eight."

"So why do you think we're having them now?" Marco wondered. "And at exactly the same time?"

Star sighed and slid her hand into Marco's, interlacing her fingers with his. "I really wish I knew, Marco. I really wish I knew."

* * *

Janna closed the access panel as Star connected the power cable to the backup hyperdrive. "Alright, that oughta do it." She picked up her commlink from the floor and hailed Tom's.

_"Almost done here, Janna. Got about half a dozen bolts to put back and we're finished," _Tom told her.

"Excellent. We'll meet you up in the cockpit." She ended the transmission and turned to Star. "Not bad, Star. Not bad at all."

"Thanks, Janna! If we're all done here, why don't we go see how Pony is doing with the navicomputer?"

Janna wiped off her hands on a rag and tossed it into the tool kit. "Sure. Let's go."

* * *

PY-HD was busily beeping out an explanation to Star and Janna in astromech binary when Marco and Tom made it up to the cockpit.

"I honestly suspected as much," Janna said with a sigh when the droid finished.

"What's going on?" Tom asked.

"Pony says it would take weeks to fix this circuit board," Janna said, holding up the scorched guts of the navicomputer.

"Weeks?" Marco moaned. "We can't stay on this ship out here in the middle of nowhere for weeks!"

"Sure we could," Janna reminded him. "We have three months' worth of emergency food supplies onboard, remember?"

"It's not that. I'm just gonna start going crazy soon. I'm already kinda starting to feel claustrophobic." He stared up at the ceiling nervously.

"Well, don't worry. We can still do it the hard way."

"What's the hard way?" Star asked.

"You've never heard of the hard way?"

"Nope. Sounds hard, though."

"Oh, it is. It involves the most difficult skill in existence."

"Oooh, what's that?"

"Math."

Star's excited expression instantly faded. "Aww, I hate math."

Tom raised his hand. "Uh, Janna? I know we could calculate a hyperspace route using star charts and the, uh, dreaded 'M' word, but doesn't that require knowing our exact coordinates as a starting place first?"

Janna pursed her lips in annoyance. "Oh, yeah, I forgot that we don't have a clue where we are. Drat." She sank into the chair behind the pilot's seat and took a deep breath in exasperation. _  
_

From opposite sides of the cockpit, Star and Marco exchanged a worried glance.

"Uh...so...what do we do then?" Marco asked.

"Well..." Janna put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "There is one other thing we could try." She stood up and moved to the space between the seats, looking out the forward viewscreen at the pinpricks of distant light in the empty blackness of space. "If we take scans of the stars, we can search for changes in their patterns that suggest the movement of a planet. Then we just aim the ship in that direction and make a series of short hyperspace jumps until we get there."

"Works for me!" Marco exclaimed.

"Except it could take days to take enough scans to find a light that exhibits the movement of a planet."

Marco collapsed into the chair behind the copilot's seat. "Aughhhhh...we're gonna die out here."_  
_

PY-HD gave a sarcastic bleep-boop.

* * *

_It began with voices. Two of them, right in front of Her, yet She could not see who they belonged to. They were familiar, yet She could not place them. _

_Who is talking to me? Why can't I see them? They're right in front of me, but WHERE ARE THEY?!_

_The words swirled around Her like a mist, but it was becoming slightly clearer. _

_"Star..." From among the gibberish, She was able to pick out Her name. "...Go. Now. You must leave..."_

_No. I can't leave. I need to stay. _

_Where is it that I need to stay? I don't know. But it's familiar. I've been here before, but...why can't I figure out where this is? _

_"Go, Star!"_

_No. I can't. I won't! _

_Then the voice addressed someone else. There was another person there._

_Who?_

_And then She was suddenly traveling at a substantial rate, but She did not seem to be moving her body at all.__ S__he was __being __carried__. __Whoever that other person was must be the one carrying Her. She watched the scenery flow past her, the browns and greens and the sandy tan of the path._

_And then She stopped. Whoever had been carrying __Her set Her down and She once again stood on Her own_ _two feet. There were screams. Lots of them. Blaster fire. A distant explosion._ _Everything around Her was a blur..._

_...but not as blurry as before. She still could not move to look around, but in Her peripheral vision above Her head was part of the _Raventalon._ She__ was standing at the bottom of the boarding ramp. _

_A plume of smoke rose from over the trees far in the distance in the direction She had just come from. She watched it rise into the sky, coming from something that she could just see the tip of over the trees, but not enough detail to determine what it was. She began to walk __towards it slowly, as if in a trance. She made it a dozen steps before-_

_"Star!" A familiar voice__...Marco. Behind Her, calling out to her__. __  
_

_"Star! We have to go, Star!" _

_He took Her hand. She did not look at him. He was trying to lead Her back to the _Raventalon_. _

_Go? I __can't__ go! I have to stay. _

_I__ am needed here...wherever it is that I am. _

_"Star! C'mon!"_

_She looked down. Her lightsaber was in Her free hand, __so clear and crisp among the __swirls __of confusion __a__round her. _

_She ignited it. __I__t was the right thing to do__.__..somehow__. __  
_

_"Star, what are you doing?!" Marco yelled. _

_She broke free of his grasp__ and began took off. Where? Who knows? Toward that column of smoke in the sky. That was where She needed to go._

_"Star! Stop!_ _Come __back__!"_

_She ignored him__. __She had a mission__. __What is it? I have no idea. But I have to go. _

_"Star!" She felt Marco __gra__b Her left hand again. She yanked away for a second time, breaking into a run. _

_And then Marco inexplicably appeared in __front of __Her. "Stop, Star! Stop!"_

_She tried to get around him, __b__ut he blocked her path__. __And then, not in control of Her actions, She swung Her lightsaber at him wildly__._

* * *

Star abruptly woke, startled by her dream. Curiously, though, she immediately could not remember why. Something had startled her, enough to wake her up, but...

...what?

Try as she might, Star found that she could not fall back to sleep. Her mind swirled with questions about her dreams. Though she could barely remember any details about them once she woke up, the depths of her consciousness somehow knew that the dream was recurring.

In her state of sleepy semi-conscious but crazily racing mind, Star found herself too uncomfortable to lay still, and she was beginning to get a headache. Slowly, she climbed out of bed, thinking perhaps a hot drink would calm her head.

In the galley, Star brewed some caf and poured it into a cup. She'd never had it before, but Janna enjoyed it, and Star was not above trying new things, so she figured she'd give it a shot. When she was sure it had cooled to a drinkable temperature, she put the cup to her lips and slowly took a sip.

The caf didn't even make it down her throat. She let it run out of her mouth back into the cup.

"Blehhhk!" she whispered out loud. "How does anyone drink this stuff?"

She spied the sugar shaker in the rack behind the counter. "Oh, I think you put sugar in caf. That will probably make it better," she whispered to herself. She grabbed the shaker and poured a bit into her cup, stirring it in with a spoon from the drawer. She tasted it again and cringed, but did manage to swallow the small sip she took. "Nope." Star snatched up the sugar shaker a second time and dumped in so much that the caf could not dissolve all of it. A third taste brought a smile to the Padawan's face. "Mmmmm...gritty."

Taking a seat at the table, Star crunch-sipped her way through the over-sweetened cup of caf. It did succeed in making her feel better, and when she'd finished, she headed back toward Tom's cabin, thinking to herself that there was absolutely no way she was going to be able to fall asleep now.

As Star passed by the cockpit, she felt a tremor in the Force that suggested a presence nearby. She took two steps back and peered into the cockpit. "Marco?"

He turned around from his spot in the copilot's seat. "Oh, hey, Star."

"What are you doing?" she asked as she approached.

He returned to facing forward again. "I can't sleep."

She squeezed past where PY-HD was sitting motionless in low-power mode and climbed into the pilot's chair. "Had that nightmare again?"

"No. I couldn't even fall asleep. I think I'm too afraid of having the nightmare to let myself sleep."

"Oh. I had mine again."

Marco looked at her. "Do you remember what happened this time?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

For several minutes, the two friends sat in silence, staring out at the star-speckled nothing beyond the transparisteel viewscreen.

"Do you think our dreams are trying to tell us something?" inquired Marco.

Star laughed. "Maybe if I could actually remember what mine were, I could speculate about that."

"Okay, Do you think _my_ dream is trying to tell me something?"

"I don't know. Probably."

"What do you think it's trying to tell me?"

Star shrugged. "I don't know. I'd say to ask someone on the Jedi Council, but you can't exactly do that."

"Right."

They sat quietly for a few minutes, just gazing out into space.

"How come you came up here?" Star asked.

Marco gestured to the viewscreen. "I figured I'd come up here and look at the stars. Better than just lying in the dark."

"Yeah...stars are pretty."

"Well, you would know." Marco immediately turned bright red. _DID I JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD?!_

Star looked at him, and Marco met her eyes.

"Uh-"

Star was suddenly cut off as PY-HD abruptly sprang to life, beeping and squealing wildly. The astromech raced out of the cockpit, her various noises echoing back down the corridor.

"What the heck was that about?" Star wondered.

"Beats me. Could you understand anything she was saying?"

"I wasn't paying enough attention."

Before the two Jedi had time to speculate about what had gotten into the droid, the _Raventalon_ began to tremble violently.

"What's happening?" Marco cried.

A second later, Janna and Tom, both dressed in their night clothes, raced into the cockpit, Janna flipping on the cockpit lights as she entered. PY-HD was right behind them.

"Move! Move!" Janna yelled, and the Padawans quickly yielded the front seats to the ship's crew.

"What's going on?" Star asked.

Janna and Tom began madly flipping switches, the sounds of the _Raventalon_'s systems coming online making soft whines elsewhere in the ship. "You'll see in a second," Janna said, pausing to latch on her emergency belts as Tom did the same beside her. "You may want to strap in."

The Padawans quickly did so as Janna took hold of the control yoke and spun the ship one-hundred eighty degrees. To their complete surprise, the viewscreen was suddenly completely filled by a dark planet.

"What the heck?" Marco exclaimed.

"Janna! How long as that been there?!" cried Star.

"We've been drifting in space for a pretty long time," Tom replied as he and Janna fought with the controls. "I guess we were drifting backwards somehow? With only one engine we don't have the power to escape it's gravity, so I guess we're making an emergency landing!"

Janna shoved the throttle up to full power and pulled back hard on the control yoke, but the ship continued to fall. "Pony! Divert all available power to the one engine that still actually works!"

A few affirmative beeps made up PY-HD's reply. Star and Marco exchanged a nervous glance as the _Raventalon _began a semi-controlled fall through the planet's atmosphere.

"Everybody hang on!" Janna yelled. "This is gonna be rough!"

**Anyone want to take a guess what planet they're about to "visit"? I'll give you a shoutout in the next chapter if you're correct. ****  
**

**Hint: Pre-****existing ****planet. (I ****didn't**** make it up.)**

**Hint 2: The planet is "dark" ****because it's**** the side currently experiencing night time.**


	14. Raventalon Down

**I wrote a good portion of this chapter while killing time at Jury Duty. Man, our court system is slow. Makes me wish Trial by Box was a real thing. Any trial could be over in the amount of time it takes to, I don't know, watch one episode of ****_Star Vs The Forces of Evil. _****_  
_**

**Anyway...**_  
_

Janna and Tom grit their teeth as the _Raventalon_ broke through the cloud layer on the dark side of the unknown planet's atmosphere, struggling to hold the ship steady. With only one useable the engine, the YV-560 freighter was incredibly unstable, bouncing and shaking as it plunged down out of the sky. Janna watched as Tom's left hand found the throttle, slowly reducing power.

"Stop throttling down!" Janna yelled. "We need more power!" She put her hand on top of his and shoved the lever forward. A massive shove came from the port side engine, and it sent the ship into a lateral spiral. Star and Marco screamed.

"Okay, now I understand why you were backing off," Janna said calmly as she decreased the throttle.

"Yeah, I bet!" Tom grunted.

Through the viewscreen, tall but worn mountain peaks covered the landscape. The spinning _Raventalon_ passed below two thousand meters, streaking ever closer to the ground. The pilots strained as they madly hauled on their control yokes, desperately trying both to correct the spiral and pull the ship up from a direct collision course with the ground. _  
_

"The controls are all sluggish!" Tom cried.

"I can see that!" Janna groaned. "I have an idea! Pony! Can you switch only my yoke over to repulorlift control?"

The astromech gave an annoyed beeped.

"Well, try!"

PY-HD twittered indignantly and plugged into the computer terminal. A moment later Janna heard the console chime an alert and felt the ship pulling some alternate forces. The repulsorlifts had been activated, and she alone had control over them.

"There we go! Good job, Pony!"

She twisted her control yoke hard and the _Raventalon_'s spiral began to slow. As it did, Tom found he was able to correct the ship's nose dive by utilizing carefully timed bursts of the throttle. As they reached one thousand meters, the _Raventalon _finally leveled out, though it was still rapidly losing altitude.

"Got it!" Tom exclaimed happily, passing a glance at his pilot. "Good thinking, Janna!"

"Thanks, Lucy. Not bad flying yourself." For a moment, Janna broke her own rule and looked away from the viewscreen down at the repulorlift monitors to see what kind of strain she was putting on them attempting to keep the ship level.

"Well, I did learn from the bes-"_  
_

"MOUNTAIN PEAK!" Marco yelled, pointing out the viewscreen at the towering rise in their path.

All four teenagers screamed in terror, and Tom made a sharp maneuver to port with the control yoke. The quick motion threw the ship off of its delicate balance and instead of turning, the freighter rolled over and, while it missed the mountain peak they were about to collide with, the top starboard edge of the hull made extremely hard contact with the side of the next peak over.

"Whoops," Tom cringed as various alarms began blaring. He and Janna fought the controls to level out again for several intense moments as the ground began rushing up to meet them. PY-HD began bleeping frantically.

"We gotta set her down fast!" Janna cried.

"There's no areas of level ground big enough to gently set down in!" Tom cried. "And my console says the inertial dampers are out! If we reduce power to try to slow down, we'll just fall out of the sky!"

Janna went quiet for a moment. "Hey, that gives me an idea! Tom, give it full power and counter hard starboard to keep it level and bring the nose up, then kill the engines!"

"What?! But that'll make us hit our stall speed even faster!"

"Exactly! Just do it!"

Tom nervously put his hand to the throttle. "Okay," he said slowly. "Here it goes."

He shoved the throttle forward and hauled the control yoke back and over to the right, pulling the nose of the _Raventalon_ toward the dark sky.

"What are they planning on doing?" Star tried to ask Marco quietly.

"I have no idea, but I'm terrified. Hold my hand?"

Star didn't respond, nor did she take Marco's hand. Instead she threw her arms around Marco's neck, and he put his arm around her.

"Ready?" Tom yelled to Janna.

"Yup! Kill it!"

Tom slammed the throttle lever back down to idle speed. The _Raventalon_'s forward momentum plummeted until it came to a nearly dead mid-air stop, at which point, it began to fall straight down, though still level, toward a low spot between the many mountain peaks.

The two Jedi Padawans held onto each other for dear life.

"Jannaaaa!" Marco cried out in panic.

"Pony! On three, give me full repulsorlift thrust!"

PY-HD beeped affirmatively.

"One...!" Janna suddenly realized the ship was already closer to the ground than she thought. "TWOTHREENOW!"

The ship jolted slightly as the repulorlifts kicked in and the _Raventalon _began to decelerate. Worn down mountain peaks rose up past the viewscreen.

"Everybody hang on!" Janna yelled. "This is gonna be rough!"

"Landing gear!" Tom suddenly yelped. "LANDING GEAR!" He leaned back and reached for the control above his head, flipping the lever down.

The landing gear fully deployed just seconds before the _Raventalon_ slammed into the ground. Each leg of the landing gear was equipped with a massive shock absorber to make landings more comfortable. When the ship crashed down, the hydraulic shocks compressed so far that they popped back up like springs, causing the YV-560 to launch off the ground almost six meters. Had they not been strapped in, it would have caused its occupants to fly up off of their seats. Then it hit the ground for the final time, and that's where it came to rest.

The Jedi and smugglers moaned and unstrapped their emergency belts.

"Is everybody alright?" Star asked.

"I'm good," Janna replied. "Tom?"

"That jolt at the end gave me a headache, but otherwise I'm okay. Marco?"

Marco grunted in pain. "I think my shoulder is dislocated again."

Star shook her head in disappointment. "Oh, Marco. Marco, Marco, Marco. What are we gonna do with you?"

Janna looked over at her copilot. "So, Lucy, what do you think? Does that top the list for our wildest landing ever?"

Tom held his aching head as he slowly rose from the copilot's seat. "Definitely. Weirdest landing ever, too." He felt slightly dizzy and sank back into the seat. "Hey, Pony, do you know if-?" Tom stopped mid-sentence as he looked toward PY-HD's computer terminal and found that the astromech droid was no where to be seen. "Hey, where's Pony Head?"

They looked all around the cockpit. Marco pointed to the ceiling with his good arm. "Found her."

Being significantly lighter than the humanoids on board, PY-HD had launched off the floor when the ship crashed into the ground, and the sharpened spike on atop its dome had pierced the ceiling and become stuck. The astromech was unamused, and gave an annoyed whistle.

"I got her," Star said, raising her arm. Using the Force, she extracted PY-HD's horn from the ceiling and gently lowered the droid to the floor. It beeped appreciatively. Star turned her attention to Marco. "C'mon, Marco, your turn."

Marco turned white in the face. "Oh, no. Please don't-!" He fell out of his seat onto the floor as he tried to back away. "Star! No!"

Star closed her eyes and reached out with both hands. Marco screamed in pain yet again as Star popped his shoulder back in with the Force for the umpteenth time. PY-HD bleeped something that sounded to Marco like amused laughter, and he scowled to himself.

Janna, meanwhile, was looking at the sensor readouts. "Scanners say the atmosphere is breathable. Tom, you and I should get dressed so we can go outside and take a look at what kind of damage we're dealing with, and try to figure out where the heck we are."

"Probably a good idea," Tom agreed, looking down at his nightclothes.

The _Raventalon_'s crew left the cockpit, leaving the two Jedi alone with PY-HD, who was busily checking the sensor readouts for the ship's various systems.

Marcos sat down in the pilot's seat, scanning the landscape outside the ship's forward viewscreen. The entire world as far as he could see was peppered with relatively tall but worn down mountain peaks, the areas between them made of relatively flat igneous rock. Sand drifts lay wherever an abrupt change in the rock height created a backstop to catch it, and clouds of loose dust blew about in the air.

"Star...I don't like this place."

She sat down beside him, observing their surroundings for herself. "Do you feel that?"

Marco breathed in deeply, trying to focus. "I feel something. I don't really know what it is, but I know I do not like it. Why, what's it feel like to you?"

"It feels...cold..." Star said slowly, giving a shiver. "And dark. Reallllllly dark."

Tom suddenly reappeared in the cockpit entrance, dressed in his usual outfit and leather jacket, and looking rather pale in the face. "Been real nice knowing you guys," he said shakily.

Star raised a confused eyebrow. "Why?"

Tom hung his head in despair. "Janna is going to kill me. Remember when I made that stupid move to avoid that mountain and we sort of side-swiped that other mountain?"

"Uh-Huh?" they chorused.

"Well...it kinda...did a lot of damage to the hull."

Marco exchanged a nervous glance with Star before asking, "How much damage?"

* * *

"That...that's a lot of damage," said Star, pointing to the area in question.

The group stood on the ground outside the _Raventalon_, looking up at a gouge that had been torn into the upper edge of the hull on the ship's starboard side, creating a hole that exposed the cabin to the planet's atmosphere.

Janna had not yet said a word. She just stared nonchalantly at her damaged spacecraft through half-closed eyes. PY-HD snickered a few various noises which Tom understood as "You dead, boy."

"Janna, I am so, so, sorry-" Tom began, but Janna held up her hand and cut him off.

"It's not your fault, Tom. If we were flying under normal conditions you never would have made a dumb mistake like that. Heck, I didn't even know if what I was doing was going to work. I could have smashed the ship into a mountain side just as easily as you did." She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. He managed a small smile back. "But it is coming out of your paycheck."

"Wait, wha-?!"

"Yeah, hey, not to interrupt," Star cut in, "but are we, like, stranded here now? If we couldn't escape the planet's gravity with just one engine, how are we gonna get off this rock? And is that giant hole even fixable?"

"Sure it's fixable," Janna said. "We just gotta find some durasteel to patch it with. Not a big deal. Just time consuming." She noticed a smooth rock about the size of her palm in the thin layer of silt at her feet and picked it up. She tossed it back and forth between her hands as she continued. "And now that we aren't in space anymore, we should be able to get at least one of the other engines repaired, probably the center one, and that oughta give us enough power to get back in the air." She tossed the rock over her shoulder. "We are definitely going to be stuck here for a while, though."

"Great," Marco said sarcastically. "First lost in space, now stranded on an unknown planet. Just keeps getting better."

* * *

About an hour later, Tom and PY-HD joined the others in the galley where the rest of the group was munching on supply bars. "Well, Pony Head finished her scan of the planet surface," he announced.

"And?" Janna urged.

"And I have absolutely no good news. Even without a life-form scanner, there's nothing to suggest anyone actually lives here."

"So it's totally uninhabited?" Marco asked.

"More like abandoned," Tom replied, sitting down beside Janna and grabbing a supply bar. "She picked up a bunch of structures that are definitely not natural formations, suggesting someone lived here at some point, but-" He took a bite of his supply bar and finished his sentence as he chewed. "Not anymore."

"Well, if there are structures of any kind, there might be something we can salvage to use to patch up that giant hole," Janna said.

PY-HD bleeped urgently.

"Oh, right," Tom said. "Thanks, Pony, I did forget. Pony picked up something else, too. There's a big sandstorm coming this way. Won't be too long before it gets here, and it looks like it's probably gonna last ten or twelve hours."

"Hmm...considering the ship isn't airtight, we should probably find some place to take shelter," Janna said.

"Couldn't we just go down in the cargo hold or something?" Marco asked. "The hole only has the upper deck exposed, and the hold has airtight doors, right?"

"Yeah, but this ship doesn't have life support in the cargo hold if the airtight doors are closed," Tom explained. "We'd suffocate."

"Oh."

Janna took another bite of her supply bar. "How far is the closest structure you picked up, Pony?" she asked through the mouthful of food.

The droid bleep-blooped a reply.

"'Couple klicks?" She stood up from the table. "Alright, let's head out then."

* * *

They threw some food into the storage compartment of Tom's jumpspeeder and Star, Marco and Janna each held a rolled blanket. Marco held Tom's as well so that the demonicite could drive the speeder bike.

With Tom flying, Janna and Star sat on the back behind him. Marco balanced himself on the front air foil, leaning back against the handlebar for balance. Star lifted PY-HD up with the Force, flipped the droid on its back, and then floated her close enough to the rear of the speeder for the powerful electromagnets on the astromech's feet to attach.

"All set?" Tom asked.

"Not particularly," Marco squeaked from where he balanced on the speeder's front. "This doesn't feel safe at all."

With the bike far over its weight capacity, Tom kept to a moderate pace as they followed the route PY-HD had plotted out for them. Even at a relatively slow speed, their destination was not far, and it did not take them long to arrive.

The structure had been carved into the side of a vertical rock face, an ornate facade bordering the massive hinged double doors that towered over the teen's heads.

"Wowwww," Star marveled as they approached.

Janna was excited. "Being stuck here may actually be pretty interesting after all!"

As Tom slowed the bike to a stop at the foot of the doors, the breeze began to pick up, swirling more dust and sand into the air. The girls climbed off the back, and when Marco looked behind them after hopping down off the front of the speeder, the sky behind them was completely blackened by the dust cloud that was barreling toward them. "C'mon! We gotta get inside!"

"I got the door!" Star yelled, raising her right hand. She pulled open the heavy left door using the Force, and Tom drove the bike inside the structure, the others jogging in behind. When they were all safely in, Star quickly pulled the huge door shut against the impending storm. A loud boom accompanied the closing of the door, reverberating through the inside of the structure, and leaving them in pitch darkness.

"Yikes, it's dark in here!" Tom yelped, his voice echoing in the large space.

"Marco, light!" Star urged, pulling her lightsaber from her bag and igniting it, flooding the chamber with emerald light.

"Right! On it!" Marco ignited his lightsaber, as well, and the two glowing swords together provided a decent amount of illumination.

PY-HD whistle-beeped, a tone followed a moment later by a loud clang as it deactivated its magnetic feet and dropped from the back of the speeder bike onto the rock floor. Tom quickly pulled the droid upright and brushed some dust from its dome. It twittered appreciatively and activated the flashlight in its dome.

Now able to see, the gang left their blankets on the jump speeder's seat and took in their surroundings while the wind howled outside. The chamber in which they stood stretched high above their heads, even taller than the entryway doors, hewn from the rock of the cliff side. Simple but beautifully carved stone columns supported the ceiling, and the stone floor had been etched to resemble tile.

"Whoa...what is this place?" Star wondered aloud.

Janna grinned excitedly. "I don't know, but I love it. This is one of the coolest places I've ever been." She ran a hand over one of the stone support columns. "I might move here."

Star shivered.

"You okay, Star?" Marco asked.

"This place is...cold..."

Marco immediately started to slide an arm out of his hoodie. "You want to wear my hoodie?"

"Not that kind of cold. Like...'Force' cold." Then she quickly added, "As long as you're offering though, I am really regretting this sleeveless dress."

Marco chuckled and handed his lightsaber to Janna as he shed his hoodie and draped it over Star's shoulders. Star then handed her own weapon to Marco so she could slide her arms into the sleeves. "Wow, you weren't kidding! This is cozy!"

It took Marco a moment to tear his gaze away from the sight of his best friend wearing his hoodie, as, despite their situation, he couldn't help but think that she looked absolutely adorable.

When he did, he handed Star's lightsaber back to her and turned to retrieve his own from Janna, but Captain Ordonia was no longer standing behind him. She had wandered off to the deep end of the chamber, using Marco's lightsaber to illuminate something carved into the wall.

"Hey, guys! Check this out!"

Her four companions hurried over to where she stood. Before them was what appeared to be another set of double doors carved into the wall, but far shorter than the entryway doors, only standard size. They were bordered by more intricately carved stone work.

"I can't figure out how they open," Janna said.

"It just looks like part of the wall to me," Tom said.

"Yeah, there's no hinges for them to swing on," Marco added, "and if they were sliding doors they would be recessed into the wall."

Star placed the palm of her unoccupied left hand against the door and closed her eyes, reaching out with the Force to feel the construction. "There's definitely empty space behind it," she said, "like there's another room on the other side."

"Any idea how to open it?" Janna asked.

"Um..." Star's brow furrowed as she concentrated. "I sense something...gears...a counterweight system...there's a mechanism...it's very intricate..." She slid her palm over the cold rock, her eyes still closed, trying to follow the door's inner workings in her mind. Her fingers slowly passed over the door trim and landed on the flat area of the wall beside it. "It's here. Inside the wall." The others watched as her fingers spread out over the stone and her face contorted slightly as she concentrated.

Suddenly the doors slid backward into the wall and folded back, revealing the space behind them. Janna eagerly stepped through the doorway, holding Marco's lightsaber aloft to see. The space was only twice as wide as the doorway and consisted of a short landing before becoming a wall-to-wall set of stairs leading down deeper beneath the mountain. "Awesome! C'mon!" she said excitedly as she started onto the first step.

PY-HD bleeped.

"Yeah, I'm with Pony," Tom said. "No thank you. If you want to go fumbling around in the dark, go right ahead, but we had to wake up in the middle of the night to make an emergency landing and I would like to go back to sleep." He and PY-HD headed back toward where they'd left the speeder bike.

"Be my guest," Janna said, motioning for the two Padawans to follow her with Marco's lightsaber. "C'mon, you two."

"Don't we get a say in this?" Marco asked as she started down the steps.

"Nope."

"Can I at least have my lightsaber back?"

"No."

Marco shook his head as Janna got further down the stairs ahead of them. "Star, I've been meaning to ask you this for a long time: Why do we even hang out with Janna?"

Star placed her lightsaber in Marco's hand. "Just take mine. Consider it a trade for your hoodie."

"Oh." Marco smiled at her. "Thanks, Star."

"You two coming or what?" Janna's voice echoed back up the stairs. She was already twenty steps down.

Star stepped down onto the first stair...

...and then retracted her foot as if she'd been burned. She shivered violently.

"Star? What's wrong?" Marco asked.

"It is realllllly dark down there."

"Well, yeah, I see that, but we have a light."

"Force-dark, Marco! Force-dark!"

"Oh. Right."

"I've never felt anything like it before! It's almost as if-!" She fell silent.

"'As if' what?"

"As if a lot of people...were murdered down there."

"C'mon, guys! Hurry up!" Janna's voice echoed up the stairs once again. They could barely see her, seeming to have reached the bottom of the steps, the green glow of Kit Fisto's former lightsaber in her hand dim in the distance.

The two Padawans exchanged a nervous look before following Janna down the stairs.

"Well, Pony, looks like it's just you and me," Tom said as he laid down on his blanket on the stone floor.

The astromech gave a condescending bleep and then went into low power mode, it's flashlight blinking out as it did, leaving Tom in complete darkness.

"Pony?"

The droid remained silent. The only sound was the wind of the sandstorm howling outside.

"Wow, it's dark."

* * *

Janna had disappeared from sight long before Star and Marco reached the bottom of the steps. Fortunately, there was only direction she could have gone. A doorway opened up in the wall to the left. Through it was a small, square room with a much lower ceiling than upstairs. On the opposite side of the room was an identical doorway leading out, and both adjacent walls had shelves carved into them. The shelves were packed with ancient-looking leather-bound books. On the wall beside the doorway they stood in was a small writing desk and chair, both covered with a layer of dust.

Janna was crouched down in front of a bookshelf, holding Marco's lightsaber over her head to illuminate the pages of one such book that she had open on the floor. She looked up when her companions entered. "There you guys are. I was starting to think you'd somehow managed to get lost on the stairs."

"What did you find there, Janna?" Star asked.

"I think these are all old record-keeping books of some kind," she replied, gesturing to the shelves with the blade of Marco's lightsaber, "but I can't read it. It isn't written in Aurebesh or High Galactic. I can't even figure out what language this is."

Before either Jedi Padawan had a chance to inspect the flimsiplast pages of the book for themselves, Janna closed it and pushed it back into its place on the shelf. "Boring. Let's see what else is here." She stood up from the floor and the three walked to the opposite doorway.

Upon seeing the room on the other side of the doorway, Star instantly froze.

The room was easily larger than the one which held the books, and mostly empty, save for a raised alter-like table in the center.

"Star, what's up?" Janna asked, looking at her friend's suddenly pale face. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Star swallowed hard. "A lot of people were killed in here."

The two Jedi were certainly not expecting Janna's reaction. "Cool!" She was met with a pair of very confused and somewhat disturbed expressions. "Don't tell me you've never wanted to see the inside of an execution chamber. That's what I'm assuming this is."

"Not particularly, no," Marco said.

Janna snickered and headed into the room. Star looked at Marco uncomfortably before following.

Janna was eagerly searching the floor with the glow from the laser sword.

"Whatcha looking for there?" Star asked.

"Blood," she answered very matter-of-factly.

"Oh, greaaaaat," chuckled Star nervously.

As the girls stuck together near the alter in the center of the space, Marco's attention was drawn to another open doorway at the back of the room, on the far left wall. Holding Star's lightsaber out in front of him, he cautiously entered. A long corridor ran the length the adjoining room, with about ten doors on the right wall. Each door had a tiny square hole for a window. Marco peered through the first one. The lightsaber's emerald glow did not filter in through the small hole very well and he couldn't see much, but the shackles bolted to the stone wall told him all he needed to know.

_These are prison cells._

"So Star," Marco could hear Janna saying as he returned to the other room, "how can you tell that people have been killed in here?"

"I have no idea, actually, I just...can feel it."

Something on the wall beside him caught Marco's eye. Something was inscribed on the wall, obscured under the layer of dust that clung to the rock. He brushed the dust away with his hand and held Star's lightsaber close for a good look.

His eyes went wide, and his heart rate quickened. "Staaaaar!" he called, panic in his voice. "We're on Moraband!"

"What?" she called back.

"We're on Moraband!"

"What?"

"We're on-!" He yelled louder.

"Moraband, Marco, I heard you. I meant I wanted you to explain."

"This planet is the birthplace of the Sith!" Marco cried as he hurried over to join them by the alter.

"Awesome!" Janna exclaimed. Once again, Captain Ordonia's exclamation was met with confused looks from her friends. "What? The Sith are so much weirder and creepier than the Jedi, and that makes them super interesting. How do you know that's where we are?"

"The inscription on the wall over there. It's written in Massassi."

"Massawho now?" Star asked.

"Massassi. It's an ancient language that was used by the Sith thousands and thousands of years ago. I bet that's what those books in the other room there are written in."

"You can read it?" Janna asked hopefully.

Marco shook his head. "No, I just know what the letters look like."

"So this _is_ an execution chamber!" Star said.

"There are prison cells on the other side of the wall over there," Marco said, pointing, "So, yeah, definitely."

Star suddenly gasped as an idea stuck her. "That's why I can sense so much death in here! I bet most of the prisoners they were executing were Jedi!"

For a moment, they all fell silent. Too far underground to hear the sandstorm raging outside, the chamber was eerily quiet. The only sound was the soft hum of the lightsabers.

"I, uh, think that's enough exploration for one day, huh?" Star said uncomfortably. "I'd kinda like to get some sleep, too."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Janna said, "I'm tired, too." She sounded disappointed, only reluctantly agreeing. "C'mon, let's go back up."

As Janna led the way out of the chamber, Marco felt Star suddenly take his hand. She said nothing, and so he remained silent, secretly equally as comforted by her hand in his as she was by his in hers.

When they had quietly rolled out their bedding beside Tom and PY-HD and turned on the speeder bike's headlamp to stave off the complete pitch blackness of the room, Janna quickly fell into a deep sleep. Star, meanwhile, was too uneasy to sleep, her mind still fixated on the staggeringly cold Dark Side energy she had felt downstairs. Eventually, she rolled onto her side where she could see Marco's back a few feet away. She remembered she was still wearing his hoodie. She pulled the hood up over her head and wriggled her arms out of the sleeves, pulling them inside the garment close to her body. It gave her a feeling of security, and as she watched Marco's body slowly rise and fall with his steady breathing, her mind was quieted and she dozed off to sleep.

Marco, however, was not sleeping. He was actively trying to stay awake. When the others had fallen silent and Marco lay still on his bed roll, he was suddenly far more cognitive of the Dark Side's presence on this planet. It made him even more afraid to slip into unconsciousness for fear of the recurring dream he knew would invade his mind. He chose a spot on the wall and stared at it, focusing on his breathing. It was a trick Kit Fisto had taught him, a meditation technique to rest one's mind when it was imperative to stay awake and alert. Marco was pretty sure the Jedi Master had meant it to be used in times of battle, when one knew the enemy could attack at any moment but one desperately needed rest, but he figured avoiding a terrifying nightmare was also a good reason to use it.

All through the night, Marco continued his mediation, until he suddenly became aware that the wind's eerie howl had disappeared.

**I'm thankful that, as of the time of writing this, Moraband does not have very**** much content that is considered to be canon, because it allows me to take some material from Legends and blend it to my own uses. T****he canonical stuff ****will ****be utilized in the coming chapters, however.****  
**

**No one who left a review correctly guessed the planet, but I would ****just ****like ****to ****say a ****big ****thank you to everyone who has left/does leave (a) review(s) ****on this here story of mine****. ****Knowing that you guys are enjoying my tale keeps me motivated**** to ****continue ****writing it, and ****I appreciate**** you taking the time to give feedback****. ****  
**

**Anyway, stay ****tuned ****for ****some****...stuff...in the next few chapters****. **


	15. The Padawan and the Specter

**Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Get excited. **

Janna shook her head in disgust. "What a mess."

"Yeah. Sure glad we weren't here during the sandstorm," Marco agreed. "That would...heh...not have been fun."

The gang had returned to the _Raventalon _following the sandstorm. Thanks to the gaping holes in the hull, the ship's interior was full of sand and dust. Even the closed interior doors hadn't been enough to keep back the swirling debris, and every compartment from the galley to the engine room had at least some layer of particulate.

"I still don't understand how we ended up all the way out here, in the Outer Rim," Tom said as they inspected the cockpit. He brushed the sand from the copilot's seat and sat down. "We were only in hyperspace for, like, two minutes. Even with a class .5 hyperdrive it takes hours to get from the core worlds all the way out here, and the _Raventalon_'s is only a class 2!"

"We were floating in space for a pretty long time," Marco reminded him. "Could we have just drifted here?"

Tom shook his head. "No way. I don't think we should have made it far enough to even leave the orbits of the core worlds."

Janna brushed the dust from the pilot's seat so that she could sit down as well, and caused Marco to accidentally inhale some and trigger a coughing fit. "I've been thinking about that myself," she said. "I heard some stories that old deep space pilots used to tell about a ship being hit by an explosion right as it jumps to lightspeed. They say it causes a ship to be knocked into hyperspace in such a way that it sort of 'skips' across the hyperspace dimension, like a stone on the surface of a lake, and causes the ship to be spit out way further away from where it started than it would from normal hyperspace travel." She shrugged. "I always thought it was just a tall tale. Guess there was some truth in it after all."

PY-HD rolled into the room followed by a very uncharacteristically nervous Star. The droid twittered something sarcastic.

"Okay, so what's the plan for getting out of here?" Star asked. "I hate this place so, so much."

"I didn't think anything freaked you out, Star," Janna said.

"Well, this place does, okay? I have the incredible misfortune of being very sensitive to the Force, and the longer I'm here, the more and more I feel the presence of the Dark Side." Marco noticed that Star was shaking slightly. "It's overwhelming and I can't make it go away! All I feel is darkness and cold and-and-and..._death!_"

Janna squinted. "Lucky."

Star rubbed her bare arms as if trying to warm herself up. "So? What's the plan?"

Janna thought for a moment. "Well, the Sith Empire in its heyday had a pretty extensive fleet of starships. There's gotta still be some somewhere." She retrieved her datapad and showed the others a scan PY-HD had made of the planet. She pointed to a spot on the map. "Over here is the largest concentration of non-natural structures. Hopefully there's a hanger or something with ships in it. This planet has been abandoned for so long I don't expect to find anything that still flies, but we just gotta find something we can cut some hull material off of to make patches for the _Raventalon_."

"That spot is pretty far away," Tom pointed out. "Almost a full day's journey. When you find parts worth using, how are you going to get them back here?"

"I was getting to that, Lucy, hold your fathiers. I think we should split up."

"Oh, that's a great idea," Marco said, rolling his eyes.

"It's the best option to cut our time here as short as possible."

Star quickly interjected, "I'm all for that."

"Look, we're gonna need some pretty big pieces of durasteel to patch the hull, way too big to carry on the speeder bike. So while one of us goes and hunts for starships to cut some hull plates off of, the others need to stay here and get the engines repaired so the _Raventalon _can get back in the air. That way when I find some suitable salvage, you can fly the ship to me instead of me bringing the salvage to you."

"I noticed you started referring to yourself as the one going searching for hull patches halfway through that," Tom said. "I guess that means you're volunteering."

"I'm not volunteering. I'm the one going and if you've got a problem with that, then you guys can try to stop me."

Tom shook his head. "You're just using this as an excuse to go exploring on the abandoned Sith home world."

"Duh."

The demonicite crossed his arms. "Well, you're not going alone."

Janna rolled her eyes. "Fine. Guess you're with me, Marco."

The young Jedi jumped. "What?! Why me?"

"If I'm going hunting, then Tom has to stay here to work on the engines, and Star-"

"-is absolutely not going galavanting around on a planet where I'm constantly being bombarded by feelings of death and darkness to the point where I can barely think straight," Star finished. She held the sides of her head with her hands. "Oh, it's getting worse and worse every minute."

"Yeah, that," Janna finished.

Marco quickly tried to figure out an alternative to being alone with Janna. "Uhhhh...what about Pony Head?"

"Pony will be far more useful here in repairing the ship," Janna said. "Sorry, Diaz, you're stuck with me."

Marco sighed. "Fine." He looked at Star again. She was still trembling, anxiety written on her face. _She didn't seem nearly this bad last night, and then we were literally in a Sith execution chamber._

_Heh. Maybe it's because she was wearing my hoodie. _

"Well, if we're gonna go, we might as well go right now," Marco said.

Janna stood. "Couldn't agree more. Let's grab some more provisions. Who knows how long it'll take to find something? And then we'll hit the nonexistent road. Oh, and Pony?"

The droid beeped a confirmation.

"While we're gone, take a look at the navicomputer again. We could be stuck here for a while, you may end up having enough time to fix it."

The astromech twittered an affirmative. "Good. Marco, I'll meet you down below." And she disappeared through the cockpit doorway.

"Be careful!" Tom yelled after her.

Marco and Star met each other's gaze. "So...we're splitting up," Star said slowly. She gave a tiny chuckle and smiled nervously. "This will probably be the furthest apart from each other we've ever been since the day we met."

"Yeah...I was thinking the same thing." Marco gently took both of her shaking hands in his. "Are you gonna be okay? You look terrible."

"Gee, thanks," Star quipped, but she said it with a teasing smile. "I know. But I'll...I'll be fine."

Marco was not convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Sure, sure. Totally. I'll be fiiiine. Just...don't drag your feet finding that salvage."

"I won't." He wrapped Star in a hug and she enthusiastically returned it. Marco noticed that as they stood together in their embrace, Star's trembling ceased.

"Well...I guess you'd better get going...wouldn't want to keep Janna waiting." Star reluctantly released him.

"Yeah...I guess I'd better." Marco quickly shrugged his arms out of his hoodie just as he'd done last night and drew it around Star's shoulders. "Keep this safe for me until I get back, okay?" Marco waved goodbye to Tom and quickly hurried out of the cockpit.

* * *

"Alright, let's see...I've got our bedrolls, water, a couple days' worth of ration packs, my datapad for navigation, macrobinoculars, flashlight, and a burning desire to explore this planet's weirdness." Janna looked at Marco. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be, I guess."

Janna climbed onto the jump speeder and Marco took his seat behind her. Janna turned the bike around and zoomed away from the _Raventalon_.

From up in the cockpit, Star watched as her friends sped off toward the Moraband horizon. She pulled Marco's hoodie around her tighter and felt the same comfort she had last night, as if the one she secretly harbored great affection for were right there with her. Her senses were quieted, and she trembled no more, though she already missed him and wished he were still there with her.

"So...Star." Tom beckoned from the back half of the cockpit. "Shall we, uh...get to work?"

She tore her eyes away from the window. "Yes, we definitely should. What's first?"

"Well, I think the first thing we should do is bail out some of the sand so it doesn't get into anything we're trying to fix."

Star hopped over the copilot's seat. "Oh, I can do that! Easy-peasy!"

"What are you-"

Tom fell silent as Star pushed passed him and stood in the corridor just outside the cockpit door. She closed her eyes and raised her arms outstretched to either side. Tom watched as she gritted her teeth together and scrunched her eyes tight.

"Uhhh...Star?"

And then suddenly all of the dust and sand that lay in drifts throughout the cabin of the _Raventalon _floated up into the air. Star strained in concentration. And then, all at once, the debris shot toward the starboard side of the ship and blasted out through the gash in the hull.

Star opened her eyes. "How's that?" When she turned around to look at Tom, the Demonicite was spitting out a mouthful of dust. "Oh, I guess I should have told you to...close your mouth."

Tom coughed. "It's cool. That was honestly amazing. There's hardly a speck of dirt in here. I think it might be cleaner than it was before."

"I'll be honest, I wasn't really sure if that was going to work or not."

"I thought you said it would be easy...peasy."

Star shrugged. "I lied?"

Tom laughed. "Well, at least we can move on to the sublight thrusters since you made such quick work of cleanup. Hey, Pony Head, can you-"

He turned around to where he thought PY-HD was sitting at her terminal in the cockpit, but the droid was nowhere to be seen.

"Uhhh...Where'd Pony Head go?"

Star cringed. "Uh-oh."

They found PY-HD half-buried in a pile of sand outside and quickly unearthed the droid from its gritty prison.

"Pony, I am so sorry! I had no idea I was throwing you out with the sand." Star apologized as she and Tom cleaned the dust from the astromech's dome.

PY-HD twittered indignantly and rolled back toward the _Raventalon_, leaving Star and Tom standing together on the rocky ground.

"I feel so bad, Tom. Do you think Pony Head will forgive me?"

"That droid can really hold a grudge, but I'm pretty sure she likes you more than just about anyone else, so..." He shrugged. "Maybe." Tom changed the subject. "C'mon, let's get to work on the engines. We've got to be ready when Janna and Marco find what they're looking for."

"Yeah, you're right. The sooner the _Raventalon _is airworthy again, the sooner we can get back to Marco. And Janna," she quickly added. "And get off this planet." Star flipped the hood of Marco's hoodie up over her horn headband. "Let's get to work."

* * *

Over the drone of the speeder bike's repulsors, Marco yelled "How much farther?"

"We're almost there!" Janna called back.

"You said that an hour ago!"

"We clearly have different definitions of 'almost there!'"

For the past several hours, all Marco had been doing was hanging onto the back seat of the jump speeder, but he was still exhausted.

Janna steered the jump speeder toward a rise and gunned the throttle. The bike shot over the top, and there, nestled in the valley below, were the ruins of a small city.

"Whoa!" the two riders exclaimed as they approached.

Janna slowed to a more moderate pace as they cruised past. There were half-toppled stone columns sticking up from the ground like the teeth of a massive snake, and stone buildings and structures of unknown purpose lining streets of dust.

"Do you see anything that looks like a hanger?" Janna asked as she slowed the bike to a stop.

"I definitely don't see anything that looks_large_ enough to be a hanger," Marco replied.

"Yeah...me neither."

They looked about their surroundings for a few minutes more, but saw nothing of immediate interest. Janna scanned the area with her macrobinoculars in case there was something in the distance they had missed, but still found nothing. She did, however, notice that the sun was sinking low in the sky, and the light filtering past the cloud layer was dimming.

"Well, Diaz, I don't know about you, but my butt is falling asleep from sitting on this speeder for the past eight hours and I'm hungry. What do you say we pick a building here and make camp for the night? Then we can pick up the search in the morning."

"I'm good with that. I'm getting sore from sitting on this thing, too."

Nearly all of the structures were merely skeletons, lacking windows and doors and leaving gaping holes where the fixtures once were. They were full of dusty drifts and otherwise empty, having been looted centuries earlier. They chose a building that still had an attached hinged door, the ancient prettified wood swinging slowly back and forth in the breeze, and set up camp, neither having much to say to the other.

As they ate their ration pack dinner, Janna hit Marco with a question that seemed to come out of the ether.

"So you in love with Star or what?"

Marco choked on his food, sending him into a coughing fit. "What?!"

"You heard me, Diaz."

"Why-" Marco coughed again. "What would even make you ask that?"

Janna shrugged. "Because I'm pretty sure you are and I want to know if I'm right or not."

"Uh...you know I'm not allowed to have feelings like that or get emotionally attached to anyone or-"

"You still aren't denying it."

Marco's face scrunched up in aggravation. Sure, he'd already had this discussion with Tom, but he didn't quite fully trust Janna and was rather annoyed at how sure of herself she was. He set down his half-eaten ration pack and stood up. "I'm going to bed," he informed her as he stepped over to his bedroll.

Janna grinned. "I was right," she said to herself, but loudly enough that she knew Marco heard her. He lay on his bedroll on a sand drift, facing away from her. "You know there's no reason for you to hide it. Not anymore, anyway."

There was a long silence before Marco finally replied, "I know."

Janna said no more. She'd gotten what she wanted. When she had finished with her own ration pack, she laid down on her own bed roll on the opposite side of the room.

As Janna slept soundly, Marco set into the rhythm of his breathing meditation just as he had the previous night, still refusing to fall asleep. While Star was constantly feeling the strong presence of the Dark Side swirling around the planet's aura, Marco didn't really notice it until all around him was quiet. Thoughts of his recurring dream returned to him again, but he pushed them away and returned his focus to his steady breathing.

While the meditation practice Kit Fisto had taught him helped, it was not meant to be used for prolonged periods of time, and when the sun rose the next morning, Marco did not feel much less exhausted.

* * *

Janna and Marco resumed their hunt. The desolate city where they'd spent the night sure didn't have any structures large enough to hold a starship, but they poked around some of the larger buildings anyway, just to see if there was anything of use inside. They came up empty-handed. Janna couldn't even find anything weird or creepy to slate her thirst for oddities.

"Alright. There's nothing here," Janna declared. "Let's move on." She showed Marco the map on her datapad. "The next closest area on Pony's scan that looks like man-made structures is a only couple dozen klicks to the northeast, and it's at least a larger area than this settlement here."

"Okay. Let's move on, then."

* * *

The next area Janna and Marco visited was certainly larger than the first, but it's condition was not much better. Toppled and crumbling stone structures littered the ground with rubble. Part of the city looked as though it had once been a spaceport, which gave the two teenagers hope. Unfortunately, there were no spacecraft anywhere inside.

They moved on to a third area on the map, but it was nearly dark when they arrived and they decided to call it quits for the night.

The following day, the search resumed yet again.

* * *

"Janna...not that I'm ready to give up or anything..." Marco pushed through a narrow gap between a fallen stone column and a vertical rock face that Janna was already in the process of free climbing, several meters above his head. "...but we've been out here for days..." He put his hands up on the wall and began to follow Janna up the rock face. "...and we don't really seem to be getting anywhere."

"Oh, c'mon, Marco," Janna called down to him as she hoisted herself up half a meter farther. "Have a little faith. We'll find something."

Marco didn't think that was possible. He was beyond exhausted, having not actually slept in a week's time. His attempts to keep himself rested through his breathing meditation was no longer working, and as he tried to haul himself up the rock face, he felt like he was going to pass out.

When Janna reached the top, she bent down and offered Marco her hand, which he gratefully accepted.

"Thanks, Janna," Marco panted when he had both feet firmly on solid ground again.

"Don't mention it," she said dismissively, strolling across the plateau to the opposite edge. She lifted her macrobinoculars to her eyes and searched for another building development anywhere between them and the horizon. "Oh, hello there."

"What do you see?" Marco asked as he came up beside her.

"Take a look." She handed him the macrobinoculars and he held them to his eyes. He could see more broken stone columns and a smooth carved out pathway terminating in a tall set of stairs that led up to a massive door carved into the side of the mountain.

"What the heck is that?" Marco asked.

"Beats me, but it sorta reminds me of the main entryway of the Jedi Temple."

"Hmm, you're right. It does. Except...creepier."

"Wanna go check it out?"

The idea of poking around in what he was now guessing was probably a Sith Temple of some kind was not very keen in Marco's eyes.

_If that is a Sith Temple, though...maybe I could learn something in there that would help defeat Palpatine..._

Marco looked out at the sinking sun behind the overcast sky and sighed. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

It was nearly dark by the time Marco and Janna climbed down from the plateau and rode the jump speeder to the supposed Temple. Janna hopped off and admired the decrepit but still beautifully sculpted stone facade carved into the side of a mountain peak. "Alright! This is definitely the most interesting thing we've seen so far."

Marco took his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it for illumination. "Come on, let's go take a quick look before it becomes pitch dark out here."

Janna extracted her flashlight from her jacket pocket. "Lead the way, Master Jedi," she joked.

They climbed up a flight of carved out stone steps and ended up before a set of tall double sliding doors, half-open in the center. They cautiously stepped inside and shone their respective lights around as they walked deeper into the mountain. Eventually, a second set of stone stairs led down to a corridor lined with towering statues of hooded figures, and ending in another short flight of stairs. The landing at the top held a massively tall statue that towered over the room and a rectangular carved stone box of some sort.

"Now we're talking!" Janna said excitedly as she examined the statues standing sentry along the corridor. "This is awesome."

Marco said nothing. He wasn't quite sure why, but something about this place was making him uneasy.

The beam from Janna's flashlight flickered over the larger statue at the far end of the room. "Guess that guy is the leader. I wonder who he is."

Marco took a good look at the statue. The person depicted was encased in full body armor, arms crossed over the chest plate. A strange helmet covered the head, and Marco was suddenly reminded of the inquisitor that had attacked him on Coruscant what seemed like ages ago. His eyes flickered to the stone chest at the statue's feet. He looked at the statue's pose a second time, taking note of the way the depicted's arms were crossed over the chest. "Janna...I think this is a tomb."

Her eyes lit up. "I think you're right!" She jogged up the steps to the stone chest. "This has to be a sarcophagus!" Gently, she ran her fingers over the smooth stone top and the line of strange symbols carved in a band around the top. "So cool."

"Uh, Janna, maybe we should leave this place alone, you know?"

"Why? You think some Sith Lord who's been dead for a thousand years is gonna get ticked off and jump us? Doesn't matter how powerful this dude was, Marco, no one can overcome death."

The young Jedi looked up at the massive statue again and shuttered. "I sure hope you're right."

* * *

With the day's sunlight gone, they made their camp for the night just inside the entrance to the tomb in the corner beside the door. As Janna comfortably drifted off to sleep, Marco yet again attempted to resume his breathing meditation, but his exhausted mind could not focus and he found it impossible.

_I can't keep doing this. I'm gonna either pass out or die. I'm just gonna have to give in and go to sleep._

Marco reluctantly let his heavy eyelids close...

...

...

...

_"M...ia...ssssss..."_

Marco snapped awake and quickly sat up, his hand snatching up his lightsaber from the ground beside him.

_What the heck was that?!_

_"...o...com...re..."_

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, both in fear and from the sensation of cold that was suddenly creeping around his body. Someone, or something, was whispering in the darkness.

_"...arc...m...he.."_

And it seemed to be coming from deeper inside the tomb.

Cautiously getting to his feet, Marco stepped to the edge of the first flight of stairs, which he could just barely make out in the light of the Moraband moon. Beyond was only inky blackness.

The whisper met his ears again, barely audible, and though he could not make out what it was saying, it definitely was coming from inside the tomb.

The blade of Kit Fisto's lightsaber ignited in his hand, casting its emerald glow into the darkness. Marco could see nothing but what he already knew to be there: the stone sarcophagus, and the giant statues.

He ventured slowly down the steps, holding his lightsaber at a defensive angle in front of his body to protect him as well as light his way.

_"...om...t...e...arc...assssss..."_

"Uh...hello?" he called softly. "Is someone there?"

The whispering stopped. In the furthest reaches of the lightsaber's glow, Marco thought he saw something moving.

_Please just be a hallucination from being so exhausted. Please._

As he drew nearer to the set of stairs before the stone sarcophagus, Marco came to the unfortunate definite conclusion that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. The movement turned out to be tendrils of thick, sooty smoke curling up from around the edges of the heavy stone lid of the sarcophagus.

"What the-?"

Before Marco had a chance to wonder what was happening, a fiery, smoking mass passed though the lid of the sarcophagus. It unfolded itself, and as Marco stood frozen in fear, he watched as it took on the same form as the towering armored statue behind it. The smoldering figure floated in the air, staring at Marco through the narrow slit in its helmet. When it spoke, it's voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

_"Why do you come to my tomb?"_

Marco screamed and tried to step backwards, but tripped on his own feet and fell onto his back, his lightsaber slipping from his hand and going out as it clattered against the stone floor. Without his weapon providing illumination, the fire that made up the floating specter before him was the only light in the room.

_"I see there is great fear in you," _the specter boomed. _"Such anger. Such hate. Such...darknesssssss. Have you come to be my apprentice?"_

"W-w-who are you?" Marco spluttered in terror.

_"I am Darth Bane."_

Marco shuddered and sat up. "Darth Bane? But you...you've been dead for, like, thousands of years!"

_"And yet twice in the last two, my place of rest has been disturbed by two different Jedi. The first was most...disagreeable. But perhaps you have come to learn the ways of the Dark Side." _And the specter sneered.

Marco quickly got to his feet. "What? No! I-I-I'm a Jedi!"

Though Marco couldn't see the specter's face, he could tell that Bane was smiling beneath the helmet._"I can sense your emotions. You cling to the Light Side, but there is great conflict inside you. You seek revenge. You fear losing those you care for. There is so much fear in you, and great, terrible anger." _Darth Bane chuckled as he circled Marco like a shark stalking helpless prey. _"I could teach you to harness your emotions, to embrace the Dark Side. You could become a powerful Sith."_

"What? No! You're wrong, Bane!"

_"You cannot hide your emotions from me. I can sense your feelings." _

_"_You don't know anything! You're dead!"

_"Do not deny your true nature." _Darth Bane's ghost came right up to Marco's face. "_The Dark Side already resides in you. I can see into your future. It is fruitless to resist."_

The lightsaber rocketed off the floor and snapped into Marco's waiting hand. In one swift motion, he ignited the blade and swung it at the burning embers that made up Bane's Head. The blade passed right through, as if there were nothing there.

Because there *was* nothing there. Darth Bane's ghost had vanished.

Breathing heavily, quaking in fear, Marco stared at the empty room, his fatigued mind swirling, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He cautiously began to back away from the stairs leading to the sarcophagus, still holding his lightsaber defensively.

Halfway to the stairs, the disembodied voice of Darth Bane echoed through the cavernous tomb.

_"Giving in to your anger...striking an unarmed opponent...hardly the Jedi way."_

Marco turned and bolted up the stairs, tripping and falling halfway up, but he did not stop. _  
_

_"Heh heh heh heh heh. Very good, apprentice. Very good."_

Marco sprinted right past where Janna was still sound asleep on the floor, having not been even remotely disturbed from her slumber, and out the entry way. He ran down the long stairway, past the jump speeder, looking back over his shoulder as he ran down the long and broken concourse, and out into the barrens beyond.

No longer was Marco plagued by exhaustion. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, his fear moving his body on autopilot. He ran between the mountain peaks and kept going. A rock caused him to stumble, and his finger slipped off of the lightsaber's activation plate. No attempt was made to reignite the blade again, and Marco instead ran in the night's darkness. He squeezed between two opposing rock faces, looking back over his shoulder again, making sure the specter was not following him.

And then his left foot came down and found only air, and Marco was suddenly falling down an embankment.

"Oof! Ah! Guh!" he gasped as he bounced and rolled down the rocky slope. He crashed into a boulder with his chest and what little air was in his lungs was knocked out of him.

And then a searing pain tore through his left leg as something sharp ripped through his flesh.

At last, the tumble came to an end. Marco landed sprawled out on a smooth rock surface at the bottom of the embankment, his lightsaber slipping from his grasp and rolling away into the darkness. Finally able to suck a breath of air into his empty lungs, Marco let out a scream of agony. "AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!

An intense pain radiated from Marco's left leg. He tried to look at it to see what the damage was, but he could not see it. In fact, he could not see anything aside from pitch darkness. The embankment he had rolled down had ended in some sort of cave, and the light of the Moraband moon did not penetrate the spot where he lay.

Quickly, Marco felt for his lightsaber, but his fingers could not locate it. It had rolled away, out of his reach. He stretched out his arm and tried to call it to his hand with the Force, but was in so much pain he could not focus on it. In addition to his leg, his lungs burned from his intense run and his entire body ached from the fall.

"Come on...come on...focus, Diaz, focus!_"_

But he could not. The harder he tried, the more intense the pain seemed to become. "Come on..."

Frustration was beginning to set in. Then panic. Then, as he realized that his trouser legs felt damp and the likely reason why burrowed down into his mind, genuine fear.

"Come on, you stupid lightsaber, get in my hand!"

Something metallic scraped against stone. That was it. He'd made it move and he had heard it slide across the cave floor. Marco closed his eyes. Even though there was nothing but blackness to block out, it helped him concentrate, quieted his mind.

After a few frustrating seconds, the scraping sound returned. Marco kept it up as long as he could, but soon the pain became too much to bear and his connection to the Force broke. He whimpered in frustration.

Then something touched the finger tips of his outstretched hand. He had given the lightsaber hilt enough momentum for it to roll to him.

Marco let out a sigh of relief and grabbed the weapon, propping himself up on his left elbow and igniting the lightsaber above his head with his right. _  
_

_"_Ohhhh, that can't be good."

The lightsaber's glow revealed that Marco was laying in a growing puddle of blood, his trousers soaked. Marco felt faint and quickly averted his eyes.

"Yes. That is blood. That is a lot of my blood."

Taking a moment to pluck up courage, Marco investigated his injury further. Carefully rotating his left leg, he saw the massive laceration on the backside of his calf through his torn trouser leg. A chunk of his flesh had been torn away, and it was gushing blood. Marco was starting to feel dizzy and weak.

"Oh boy...I gotta...stop that...or I'll...bleed out," Marco gasped to himself. "How am I...gonna...make a...tourniquet? I have nothing to...tie one with...and I...can't even...sit up."

The soft humming of his lightsaber caught his attention.

"I guess...I could try to...cauterize it." He looked at his leg again and swallowed hard. "Aw, man...this is really...really gonna hurt."

Marco shifted his lightsaber from his right hand to his left, holding his body up in order to see his injury with his right forearm. With every passing second, Marco felt weaker, and his head spun faster. As slowly and carefully as he could, he extended his arm, reaching out toward his leg with the blade of the lightsaber.

"Easy...easy..." Marco could feel his eyelids closing. "Stay awake...gotta...stay..." The lightsaber felt as though it weighed two tons. Marco could barely support it. "Gotta...stay..."

And Marco passed out.

**Marco and Janna clearly ****aren't****familiar with the ****story of Darth Plagueis the Wise****. ****After all, ****it's**** not a story the Jedi would tell you****. **


	16. Missing Marco

**It is here that I will deviate somewhat from what is considered canonical material concerning the two characters in the next scene. However, the material I am deviating from is like, books and comics that I haven't even read. I am still adhering to all of the Star Wars movies, so I doubt anyone will mind. **

Galen Erso looked up from his drawings as he heard the door to his office smoothly slide open, the person on the other side electing not to knock and request entry.

"Director Krennic," Erso addressed his visitor, standing to greet him. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Galen, my friend," the director said. His words were friendly, but they were not warm. They were spoken with a twinge of sarcasm, as if he intended to come across as arrogant. "How goes your current project?"

"Uh, good. Very good, Director. I'm almost finished, in fact."

Krennic took another step closer, his hands clasped impressively behind his back. "That is so good to hear, Galen. Just wonderful."

Erso swallowed nervously. "So, uh, what is it that brings you by, sir?"

"Well, you know how much the higher ups are counting on this project of ours being a success, don't you?"

"Of course."

"Well, some of the board are concerned about the amount of power that the primary weapon is meant to contain and control."

"I've done all of the calculations, the system will work just as I have promised it will."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. I have complete and total faith in you, Galen. But, the board, you see, they don't know you like I do and they don't have quite the same level of faith. They think, and I have to agree that it would be a good idea, that you and your build team should construct a scaled-down prototype to test your system."

Erso relaxed slightly. "Oh. Yes, a prototype. Of course. Um, how scaled down would the board like it to be?"

"Oh, you know, still large enough to get a decent test result." Krennic picked up a drafting stylus from the desk and twirled it between his fingers. "I was thinking large enough to simulate one-half of a single reactor ignition. I figured all of the necessary components for a prototype of such size could fit inside the hanger of one of our brand new Star Destroyers, and the prototype could be attached to the lower hull."

Erso thought for a moment. "Of course, Director. I believe that should be suitable to make it work."

Krennic smiled. "Wonderful, Galen. You are a credit to us all."

_An unwilling credit,_ Erso thought to himself. "Thank you, Director. How much time do I have to design and construct this prototype?"

Krennic gestured with an open hand. "How much time do you think you will require?"

"At least four weeks for design, and maybe four months to build it?" _Anything to delay production on the real thing._

Krennic gave a malice-laced smile. "Oh, come now Galen. I think we both know you can do better than that. It's just a scaled-down prototype, after all." He held up three fingers. "Three months total, start to finish."

"Three and a half?" Erso asked hopefully.

"Three months, Galen. I'll have a shuttle come and pick you up in a bit to take you to the NIA yard where the Star Destroyer_Moonshadow_ is moored. It just arrived from Corellia two days ago, the most recently completed capital ship for the new Imperial Navy. You can take whatever scans and measurements you require, and when the prototype is ready for assembly, the ship will be at your disposal."

Erso faked a smile and hoped that Krennic couldn't tell. "Thank you, sir. We'll get started on it right away."

Krennic stepped closer and placed his hand on Erso's shoulder. "I know you'll continue to make us proud, Galen."

Galen Erso certainly would. He had to.

Or they'd kill him.

And probably his family, too.

* * *

When Janna opened her eyes, she immediately regretted choosing to sleep on the hard stone floor. Everything was sore and she had a headache.

_This was a bad choice. Should have found a sand drift somewhere to lay on. _

Still half asleep, she lifted her head and looked toward Marco's bedroll. She was surprised to see that it was empty. Looking around, she couldn't see him anywhere.

"Marco?"

Janna rubbed her eyes and pulled herself into a sitting position, running her fingers through her hair before picking up her hat from where she'd left it and pulling it on. Then she stood up and walked out through the half-open doors, heading for where they had left the speeder bike, figuring that Marco must be there getting himself some breakfast.

At the top of the stairs, Janna could see the jump speeder, but Marco was nowhere to seen.

_Huh...must be off somewhere answering nature's call_, Janna thought as she mixed some water into a ration pack and waited for the instant roll to rise. _He'll probably be back any minute. _

But by the time Janna had finished her breakfast, Marco still had not returned.

"Where could he be?" she asked herself aloud.

Five minutes became ten, then twenty, then half an hour. She tried to hail Marco on his commlink, but heard the chime of his comm coming from inside and found that he had left it on his bedroll.

"Shoot. C'mon, Marco. We're burning daylight." Frustration growing, Janna began to wander around the area, searching for her missing compatriot.

"Marco!" she yelled out. "Marco!"

But as an hour became two, Janna was beginning to worry. Her legs grew tired from walking, so she climbed onto the jump speeder and began to ride slowly around the area in a circle, her calls becoming more worried than frustrated.

"MARCO! Where are you?!"

After over an hour, Janna returned to the tomb where she had started, hoping she had somehow missed him and he had returned to their camp. She didn't see him as she parked the jump speeder at the bottom of the stone stair case, and she didn't find him inside with his bedroll, either.

"Where could you be, Marco?"

Janna sat down on the top step of the staircase. _Maybe I should call Tom and Star. _She pulled her commlink from her pocket and started to key it to Tom's frequency. _No. What are they gonna do? They're over a thousand kilometers away and don't have any way to get here. And the _Raventalon _doesn't have a life-form scanner, so I can't ask Pony Head to do a scan to find him._

She stood and returned the commlink to her pocket. The sun was rising higher in the Moraband sky. Marco had been missing now for several hours, and she still had no idea how to find him.

She wandered back through the door of the tomb, trying in vain to think of a way to track down the wayward Jedi as she strolled, not really paying much attention to where she was going. Before long, Janna found herself standing in the low spot between the two sets of stairs, the great stone sarcophagus and the statue that stood watch over it a dozen meters ahead of her. A shaft of sunlight shone down on the resting place of the deceased Sith from a hole in the ceiling, illuminating the tomb quite well. She gazed up at the statue's masked face.

"Oh, great ancient Sith Lord guy," she called out dramatically, "Can you help me find my friend, Marco?"

The only reply from the statue was deafening silence.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." With a heavy sigh, Janna sat down on the bottom step of the stairs leading up to the sarcophagus, leaning her head in her hands. "What am I gonna do? What could have possibly happened to Marco?"

Several minutes passed in the quiet tomb, Janna racking her brain for any possible solution that would help her locate Marco, but could think of nothing. She shook her head in defeat. "I'm gonna have to call Tom and Star. Maybe somehow Star can sense Marco through the Force or something. I don't know what else to do." She started to pull her commlink from pocket again, but then stopped as something caught her eye.

The stone floor of the tomb was covered with a thick layer of dust, dust that had been displaced by the treading of feet.

Footprints.

There was a set that came in and not out; those were the ones Janna had just made when she had walked into the tomb. There were two more sets, the steps close together, their makers clearly moving slowly. Janna remembered the path she had taken when she and Marco had explored the tomb in the dark the night before. She traced it and a second set up to the sarcophagus. The other set was Marco's.

"So then who do these belong to?" Janna asked herself aloud, looking at another set that ended just before the stairs where she sat. The pattern of each footprint matched the ones left by Marco's boots.

"Hmmm...Diaz, you were in here a second time last night. What were you up to?"

There was also a large bare spot in the stone where it looked as though Marco had sat down, or maybe fallen. And leading away from that spot were more prints that scraped the dust and appeared to reverse direction. These steps were spaced far apart, as if the maker was running.

Janna followed them. It was difficult as the floor was covered with foot prints, but she managed to find where they led out the door.

"Were you running from something Diaz? Or running to something?"

Down the stairs Janna went, half bent over, tracing the trail. The footsteps led off in a straight line away from the tomb.

Janna's mouth became a determined grin. "Now I've got you."

* * *

Bent over at an awkward angle halfway inside the starboard side engine, Tom carefully held the thrust diverter flange in place with his hand. He extended his other hand behind his back, holding his palm up to accept a tool.

"Hey, Star? Can you hand me the left-handed flange-tuner?"

There was no reply.

"Star?"

Still nothing.

"Star!"

"Huh? What?"

"Left-handed flange-tuner, please?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, right, right, right, right."

He could hear her rummaging in the tool kit and then the tool he had asked for was deposited into his waiting palm.

"Thank you."

He quickly adjusted and locked down the thrust diverter flange and then slid out of the engine. He found Star looking rather spaced-out, staring at the bulkhead through wide, unblinking eyes.

"Star?"

She did not appear to have even noticed that he was speaking to her.

"Star!"

She jumped in surprise and met his gaze. "Huh? What?" she said again.

Tom frowned. "Are you okay, Star?"

She blinked a few times, her expression blank. "I don't know. I...I sense...something."

"What kind of something?"

"I'm not really sure. But whatever it is...it feels...like something is...wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Wrong." She looked away at the bulkhead again, then back at Tom. "C'mon, let's get this thing finished. Something tells me we're gonna need it."

* * *

_"Marco...Marco..."_

_He looked around. He could see nothing. There was only darkness._

_"Hello?"_

_"Marco..."_

_"Who's there?" His voice echoed in the emptiness around Him._

_"...Maaaarrrrcooooo..."_

_He reached for His belt and found His lightsaber. He pressed the activation plate and was surprised to see the azure blade of His original lightsaber ignite from the hilt. This was not Kit Fisto's lightsaber, but His own._

_The pale blue light given off by the blade did little to show Him His surroundings. He was in a hallway, the bare and drab gray walls reminding Him of the few military installations He been in on Coruscant._

_"Marco?"_

_That time, the voice was different._

_"Hello?" He called out._

_"Marco! Come here!"_

_"Yes, Marco! We have something we must show you!"_

_Holding the lightsaber aloft, He began searching for the source of the voices. He spotted an open doorway and hurried to it. The doorway lead to a large, dark room. The blue glow of His blade did not illuminate much of the space, and did not reveal the source of the voices._

_"Anyone in here?"_

_A pair of emerald lightsaber blades suddenly ignited across the room, nearly fifty meters away. One was held by Kit Fisto, the other by Star._

_"Marco!" Star shouted out to Him excitedly, waving her sword in greeting._

_"There you are, Marco!" Kit called. "We have something to show you!"_

_Smiling at having found His two best friends, He hurried toward them at a jog._

_"Hurry up, Marco!" Star yelled. "We haven't got all day!"_

_He'd nearly reached them. Two dozen more steps and He'd be there._

_Two shadowy figures suddenly appeared behind Kit and Star. He froze. "Guys!" He yelled in terror. "Behind-!"_

_Kit and Star screamed as red blades of light pierced their backs and erupted out of their chests. Master and Padawan fell to the floor, motionless, the green glow of their lightsabers replaced by the revealing red light held by the dark figures behind them. Star had been slain by the inquisitor that had chased Him across Coruscant, and Kit had fallen to the blade of Sheev Palpatine._

_"No..." He gasped, taking a step backwards. "No!"_

_"Yessss," Palpatine hissed as he and the inquisitor stepped toward Him, quickly erasing the gap between them._

_"No!" He barely realized that Kit's lightsaber had inexplicably appeared in His left hand beside His blue one on the right._

_Palpatine crackled madly._

_He found He could not move. He was frozen to the spot._

_Palpatine's yellow eyes shone in the darkness, the light seeming to rival the red glow from his lightsaber. He smiled evilly at his prey, the inquisitor beside him silently mimicking the Emperor's movements._

_They raised their weapons in unison._

_His own lightsaber in His right hand, Kit Fisto's in His left, holding them out defensively, each one took a crashing blow from an angry red laser sword. He strained to hold back the pressing blades, but two opponents pressing against Him with all of their strength was too much for Him alone. His knees buckled and He dropped to the floor, holding the lightsabers above His head to hold back His attackers._

_Palpatine chuckled. "You see now why you will fall just as the rest of the Jedi have? You are weak! Arrogantly clinging to teachings that grant you nothing but more arrogance!" Palpatine's mouth curled into an evil grin. "But you need not be weak."_

_He closed His eyes, trying to block out the Emperor's words. _

_"You have great emotion in you, Marco Diaz. Anger at me, for killing your Master. Fear of losing the one you love."_

_Tears began to seep from the corners of His eyes, both from the emotion and the physical exertion of resisting the Siths' blades._

_"You could defeat us. You could overcome your lacking connection to the Force. The power exists within you, Marco. You need only use it."_

_"No! I am a Jedi! Power does not come from anger and fear!" He was tiring. He could not hold back much longer._

_The Emperor laughed again. "You already have the power. Embrace it! Use it!"_

_"Never!"_

_"Do it!"_

_"NO!"_

_"You cannot resist the call of the Dark Side forever, Marco. It already resides inside you."_

_"You lie!"_

_"Search your feelings. You know it to be true."_

_He said nothing. His left arm buckled at the elbow, the inquisitor's lightsaber pushing His own closer to His face._

_"If you do not...you will die. And then we will find that little Padawan friend of yours, and kill her, too. Just like I did your Master."_

_"NOOOOOOO!" _

_Teeth gnashed together, every muscle straining, He pushed back against the red blades He was locked against. He rose slowly off the floor back into a standing position, and, when He had, concentrated hard with the Force. The Emperor and Inquisitor both flew a few meters backwards, pushed away by the Force. _

_Palpatine's yellowed teeth showed as he grinned. _

_The Inquisitor ignited its second lightsaber and charged at Him, attacking with the blade in its left hand, right blade rising to strike from above. He blocked the first strike from the side with His blue lightsaber, pining the inquisitor's blade there as He plunged Kit Fisto's green one upwards through His opponent's chest. Then, all in the same motion, He let go of Kit's lightsaber, spun backwards out of the way of the still-downward striking lightsaber in the inquisitor's other hand, grabbed the hilt of the red-blades laser sword as it came down, reared it back and launched it like a javelin. A dozen meters it sliced through the air, its final trajectory impaling Palpatine in the gut._

_He stalked angrily over to the Emperor as the inquisitor collapsed to the ground behind Him. Palpatine, still on his feet and seeming to ignore the lightsaber sticking out of his body, chuckled._

_"Heh heh heh heh heh...goooood...gooood! Now you see the power that your aggression and your passion can give you! You refuse to allow yourself to see it, but the Dark Side resides in you, and you will soon reach your full potential!"_

_And Darth Sidious gave a yellow, toothy smile. _

_"COME ON, DIAZ! WAKE UP!"_

**_ Anyone catch the reference to a Disney cartoon that isn't SVTFOE?_**


	17. Jedi Janna

"COME ON, DIAZ! WAKE UP!"

Forcing his heavy eyelids open, Marco found Janna kneeling over him, holding a flashlight. His vision was blurred and his head pounded.

"Ja...Janna?"

"Geez, Marco, thank goodness!" she exclaimed. "For a second there, I thought I'd lost you!"

Marco groaned and tried to sit up, but that only exacerbated the pain. "Whoa, easy there, Diaz." Janna gently pushed him back down, removing her hat and placing it under his head to cushion it against the hard floor. "Stay down. You lost a lot of blood, Dude."

"Blood?" Marco shifted and realized that everything was sticky. Looking down, he saw that he was lying in the center of a half-dried pool of blood that stretched halfway up his back. "Wha...what happened?"

"I wanted to ask you the same thing!"

"I...I don't remember...I think I hit my head..." He gently cupped his throbbing temple with his hand. "Everything is fuzzy. Wait! All this blood is mine? Am I still bleeding? We gotta stop it! I'll bleed out!"

Janna gently took Marco by the wrist. "Marco, calm down. It's okay, you're not bleeding anymore. From the looks of things...you kinda took care of it on your own."

"I did?" Marco tried to slow his pounding heart. "How? Where was all that blood even coming from?"

He saw Janna grimace nervously. "Well...it was coming from your left leg, but, uh..." She reached down and lifted something off the floor. "...looks like you stopped the bleeding with...your lightsaber."

Marco's eyes bulged at the sight of what Janna held in her hands.

"Is...is that my leg?"

"Yeah."

In Janna's hands was the lower half of Marco's left leg, the top edge where his lightsaber had gone through scorched black by the plasma blade. The lightsaber had gone clean through just below Marco's knee cap. He could clearly see the large rip in the trouser leg still wrapped around it and the massive gash in the flesh underneath.

"...I cut off...my own leg?"

"That's what it looks like."

Marco blinked a few times...

...and then screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

His shriek reverberated through the cave, causing it to sound even louder than it actually was. Janna just stared at him blankly, calmly holding his severed leg, until Marco ceased his terrified shriek. "Ohhhhhh..." he moaned. "I think I'm gonna throw up."

Janna set the limb down where it was out of his sight. "Please don't. Vomit is like the one thing I cannot deal with."

Feeling faint, Marco set his head back down on the ground. "Fine, I guess I'll just pass out again."

"No! Don't do tha-"

The echo of a far-off shriek cut Janna off. The Padawan and the smuggler locked eyes, both equally startled by the sound.

"What the heck was that?" Marco asked.

Janna rose to her feet. "I don't know, but it sounded like it came from deeper inside the cave."

The shriek came again, seemingly closer this time.

"Whatever it is, it sounds like it's coming toward us!" Marco exclaimed.

Janna shone her flashlight toward the steep embankment at the cave's mouth. "There's no way I'm gonna be able to carry you up that. Whatever it is, we'll have to fight it." She reached inside her jacket for her blaster holster, but it wasn't there. She'd taken it off to sleep and had left it beside her bedroll in the Sith tomb. "Oh, shoot! I don't have my blaster!"

Marco's hand found his lightsaber on the ground. "Here, use this," he said, holding it out to her.

Janna started to take it from him, but noticed that one side was coated in sticky congealed blood where it had been lying in the pool of Marco's fluids. She gingerly took it between two fingers, careful not to touch the blood, and then lifted up the hem of Marco's shirt and wiped the blood off.

"Hey!" Marco protested.

"Hey, yourself. You're already lying in a puddle of it." She handed the flashlight to Marco.

Once more the shriek came again, even closer now, and accompanied by the thumping of heavy footfalls. Janna got to her feet, took several steps past Marco, tried to mimic a ready stance, and ignited the emerald blade of Kit Fisto's former weapon.

The footfalls became louder as their owner drew closer, the ground beneath Janna's feet trembling with each crash.

And then, lumbering into the edges of the lightsaber's glow, there it was. Nearly as tall as the cave's ceiling with rough pinkish-gray skin and clomping along on six stubby legs the thickness of tree trunks. It's massive, gaping mouth, wide enough that even Tom could have stood up inside, hung open as it walked, several rows of teeth visible inside. The front top and bottom rows were flanked on each end by a long, razor sharp fang.

It let out a deafening shriek that rattled the loose stones on the smooth cave floor.

"What the hell is that thing?" Marco yelled.

"I have no idea! But it does not look happy."

The creature crouched down low, it's yellow bioluminescent eyes focusing on Janna. It let out another short shriek and then lumbered forward at her at its relatively-slow-but-still-faster-than-Janna-could-possibly-run top speed, mouth prepared to swallow the smuggler whole. Captain Ordonia nervously held her ground as Marco lay helplessly behind her.

As the creature reached her and aimed its mouth to gobble her up, Janna swung the lightsaber with all her might and sliced through the creature's lower left fang, severing the nerves that ran through it. The monster reared back, shrieking in pain, and unintentionally hit its head on the cave ceiling. It backed up in surprise, shaking its head side to side low to the ground.

Seeing opportunity, Janna decided to go on the offense and charged at it. The top of the creature's head was far too high up for her to pierce its brain, so she decided instead to simply go for its primary weapons. With its mouth now closed, its teeth were hidden, but its fangs remained externally exposed. Resisting her fear and urge to flee, she swung the lightsaber at the other lower fang and lopped it off. She quickly jumped back as the monster roared in pain yet again and tried to swat her away with its stubby front leg, but Janna easily evaded it.

"Janna!" Marco yelled. "Be careful!"

Snarling in anger, the creature lunged at Janna again. So swift was its attack this time that Janna had no time to try to strike it. Acting on pure instinct, she dove to the ground and the creature's lower jaw passed over her head.

Now finding herself directly beneath the monster's neck, Janna rolled over onto her back. "Oh, hello." She plunged the blade of the lightsaber through the thick skin, puncturing the creature's windpipe. As it howled in pain yet again, she swiped the blade to the side, widening the gash before rolling out from beneath the monster.

The monster shrieked until it had exhausted the air in its lungs, and then, unable to refill them, collapsed to the ground with a mighty crash that shook the cave again.

Panting hard more from the sheer terror of the experience than from the exertion, Janna slowly walked back over to Marco.

"Wow, Janna...that was...impressive!" Marco praised.

Janna just nodded. "You know what? I get it now." She let her hand slip off the activation plate and the green blade of the lightsaber shrank back into the hilt.

"Get what?"

"Why you've always been so enthusiastic about being a Jedi. In spite of all their dumb rules, that felt really cool."

Marco laughed, but was cut off by a strange growl coming from the motionless corpse of the monster. "What...was that?"

The growl came a second time, and then the belly of the dead monster split open and a dozen meter-long white worms with teeth-filled mouths poured out.

"Looks like that monster had a bit of a parasite problem," Janna observed calmly.

Marco covered his mouth with hand. "I am definitely going to throw up now."

The worms writhed around in the growing puddle of stomach acid. One that had come out right side up turned itself around and caught sight of Marco and Janna. With surprising speed, it slithered across the cave floor toward them, making a beeline for Marco, who screamed when he caught sight of its hungrily gnashing teeth.

Janna ignited the lightsaber again and took two running steps toward it, meeting it halfway and slicing its head in half down the center.

More came. The next one charged at Janna instead of Marco, but it met the same fate as the first. The others saw what had become of the first two and circled wide, far from Janna's reach, around the other side of where Marco lay.

"Janna! They're learning!"

Janna hurtled over Marco and decapitated another before it reached her friend, and then another. But while she was distracted, one worm charged Marco. The Padawan was watching Janna fight the others and didn't see it coming until it was nearly on top of him.

"GAHH-!" He was cut off as the worm slithered right on top of his body, head pointed away from his face. Marco craned his neck to see what it was doing. It's head was down and bobbed slightly, sickening crunching and slobbering sounds reaching his ears. It looked like it was eating, but he did not feel the tearing of sharpened teeth.

Then it raised its head and he could see why. It had his severed left leg in its mouth.

"Oh. Great. It's eating my leg."

"Marco!" The worm looked toward the shout and saw Janna charging it, lightsaber raised to strike. It quickly slithered off into the dark with the remains of Marco's leg still dangling from its mouth. The remaining few other worms, seeing that their sibling had food, quickly followed back into the depths of the cave.

Janna ceased her chase, the worms, despite lacking legs, slithered easily twice as fast as she could run. Pursuit was pointless, so she returned to Marco.

"I think I owe you at least two there, Janna," Marco panted as the adrenaline of panic dissipated.

She tossed the still-live lightsaber back to him and he guided to him with the Force, easily catching it with his left hand. "At least two. Maybe three. And don't worry, I _will _be collecting on that. Now let's get you out of here before any more unpleasant guests show up."

Marco looked over at the slope he had tumbled down at the cave entrance. "How are we gonna get back up that? I can't even stand up."

"Maybe we can climb it together." She bent down and took Marco's right arm by the wrist. "Come on." She tried to to help Marco off the ground, but the Jedi wailed in pain as she tried to pull him upright. "What's wrong?"

"I think my shoulder is dislocated again."

Janna sighed in defeat. "Alright." She crouched down and took the lightsaber out of his hand, extinguished it, and set it down on a blood-free spot on the smooth cave floor.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Marco asked.

Janna ignored him and rolled the Padawan onto his left side.

"Janna..." Marco pleaded, realizing what she was about to do. "Please don't."

"Just relax, Diaz." She stood up, holding her left bicep tight to her side, her forearm in front of her.

"Janna, please...I'm begging you-"

"Gotta put it back in, Dude. We'll never get out of here with you being short _two_ limbs."

And before Marco had a chance to say anything else, Janna jumped a few inches off the ground and then dove toward Marco's shoulder, leading with her upper arm. Marco wailed in pain as they collided and his shoulder popped back into its socket.

"Aaaahhhggg! That hurt even worse than when Star put it back in with the Force!"

Janna picked herself up from where she'd landed on the floor. "Yuck. I got your blood on me."

"Hey! I didn't tell you to jump on me!"

"What would you have preferred I do?"

"I-" Marco sighed in defeat. "I have no idea."

Janna picked up Marco's lightsaber and returned it to him, then held out her hand. "Then quit your belly-aching and let's get out of here."

Reluctantly, Marco took her hand and Janna pulled him into a sitting position. Then, after retrieving her hat from the floor where Marco's head had been and her flashlight from the ground, she crouched down on his left, putting her arm beneath his, and he did the same.

"Stand on three, ready?" Janna asked. Marco nodded. "One, two, three!" Janna slowly rose from the ground, dragging Marco up with her as he pushed himself vertical with his right leg as best he could. "You good?"

Marco's head was spinning. "Feelin' pretty woozy."

"Probably just the lack of blood to your brain. Just hang onto me, we're gonna get you out of here."

* * *

Climbing up the slope to escape the cave was a very slow and difficult process. The Padawan and the smuggler had to choreograph their movements in order to progress, which was not easy because they did not always have access to a reachable handhold at the same height.

When at last they reached the top, Janna and Marco collapsed onto the level ground, utterly exhausted.

After a long rest in silence, Janna spoke. "You good here for a bit while I go get our stuff and the speeder bike?"

Marco was in the process of shifting himself around to prop his back up against a large rock. "Yeah, sure. I'll be fine."

"Cool. I'll be back soon. Don't fall down that slope again."

Marco scooted slightly further away from the edge of the drop off. "I will make extra certain to not do that."

"Good. I'll be back." And Janna left.

Marco looked up, never in his life so happy to see the sky. Sure, it was overcast and dreary, but it was still the sky all the same, and it was a very welcome sight.

As the adrenaline of certain death wore off, Marco began to feel very weak from the blood loss again. Already exhausted from the climb up the slope, it was easy to close his eyes and drift off to sleep.

* * *

As Janna headed back toward the Sith tomb to collect the jump speeder, she pulled her commlink from her pocket and hailed Tom, wondering to herself how she was going to explain what had happened.

She didn't have to wonder very long, though. The transmission didn't go through.

"Huh. That's weird."

She tried several more times as she continued walking, but she could not manage to raise Tom. "There must be something interfering with the comm channel. Frack. Now I can't see if Tom and Star can come pick us up yet or not." She sighed. "We're gonna have to go back."_  
_

* * *

As he snoozed, Marco had another dream. Gone were the visions of Palpatine and the inquisitor, the gruesome deaths of his friends, and the revenge he took upon them.

Instead, all he saw was Star.

There was nothing surrounding, he could not even see himself. The only thing occupying the dreamscape was his best friend, warmly smiling at him, her long, blonde hair turned majestically golden, gently fluttering in some unseen breeze.

Presently, he gently awoke, the easiest and most peaceful rouse from slumber he'd had in what felt like forever. He found himself inexplicably smiling.

His smile faded, however, as his eyes drifted downward to what remained of his left leg. Now out of the cave and in the daylight, he was able to get a good look at it. He'd severed it just below the knee, the wound dark and burned, but bloodless, instantly cauterized. What remained of his trouser leg obscured part of it.

Marco's heart felt heavy. One would think his aching insides would be due to his inability to fight or even walk properly, or wondering how he would possibly be able to afford any kind of prosthetic while on the run from the Empire, but that was not the case. His injury was not what was on his mind.

Marco longed to see his best friend. After the nightmares and physical trauma he had endured and being separated from her for several long days, he missed Star dearly, and wanted to see her more than he could possibly want anything else in the galaxy. With Janna having not yet returned, Marco felt incredibly alone, and there was only being in the galaxy he wanted to be with.

He needed to see her. He needed to know she was safe. Of course she was. Watching her be impaled by the inquisitor's lightsaber had only been a dream...but...were they just dreams? They were so vivid and felt so real. He just needed to see with his own eyes that Star was okay. He needed to hug her. He wanted to hold her hand. It was the only thing that would erase this feeling of longing that he felt inside.

_I want to tell her..._

_I need to tell her..._

"Marco? You still alive?"

He heard Janna call out to him before he could see her. She appeared out from behind a rock outcropping, walking in his direction.

"I'm still here," he replied.

Captain Ordonia came up on his left side and crouched down, threading her arm beneath both of Marco's to support and balance the injured Jedi as she had before. They carefully stood up together and began the awkward walk back to where Janna had parked the speeder.

"Hey," Marco asked as they stumbled over a rise in the rock. "Did you call Star and Tom and tell them?"

"I called them to see if they could come pick us up, but I couldn't get the transmission to go through. There's some kind of weird interference. It's probably just as well, I really would not want to tell Star that you're missing a leg."

"Why not?"

Janna abruptly halted, causing Marco to nearly lose his balance. "I'm sorry, you have met Star Butterfly, right? She would _flip out._"

"Okay, yeah. She totally would."

* * *

The jump speeder ride back to the tomb was not long, and they soon returned to their campsite. Janna parked the speeder at the bottom of the staircase that led up to the tomb's entrance. She glanced up the steps, mentally sizing up how high it was, then looked at Marco.

"I am not helping you climb that."

"That's fine. I have no desire to go back up there, anyway."

Janna hopped off the bike and assisted Marco in sliding off, then helped him hop over to the bottom step and sit down.

"Man, it stinks not being able to walk."

"Eh. When we have time, Pony and I can make you a leg."

"You can do that?" Marco asked, impressed.

"Sure. It won't be glamorous, but it will work. Honestly, I'm kinda jealous."

"Um, jealous of what?" Marco rather indignity inquired.

"Of getting to have a robot leg! You're gonna be so much cooler than you are now." She held up the thumb and index finger of both hands, holding them together to form a square and looking at Marco through the center with one eye closed. "In fact, I think you're more attractive like this than you were before."

"...Missing a leg and covered in my own blood?"

"Mhm."

Marco leaned back, which was as far away as he could get from her, feeling rather uncomfortable. "Janna, you are very strange."

The look on Janna's face was one of pride. "Why, thank you, Marco."

She came and sat down beside him, and Marco scooted himself a bit further over on the step. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, since we can't call Tom and Star for a ride, I guess we'll just have to pack up and head back. We gotta do something ASAP about the burn where your leg was severed so it doesn't get infected and make sure the nerves heal properly so that they can work properly with cybernetics if we can ever manage to get you a real one." Janna sighed in frustration. "Not to mention the fact that we still didn't find what we need to repair the_Raventalon_'s hull."

"Yeah..." Marco crossed his arms and leaned his back against the steps.

Janna groaned and stood up. "I'll go get our stuff and get it loaded on the bike. If we ride through the night, we should be back to the_Raventalon_ by tomorrow before sundown."

"You can't go all night! You'll pass out from exhaustion!"

"Dude, I slept in a Sith tomb last night. It was probably the best night of sleep I've had since I was twelve. Trust me. I'll be fine."

Marco watched as she began to climb the steps up to their campsite. He gave a mock salute. "Well, okay then. Aye aye, Cap'n Janna."_  
_

* * *

Holding the throttle screwed on to full power, Janna guided the little jump speeder through the endless mountain peaks of Moraband. Twice they stopped for a break when Janna simply couldn't stand sitting on the hard seat any longer, but the reprieves were short, and the ride would continue yet again.

It was rather awkward, too, mostly for Marco, as his lack of one leg made balancing on the rear seat difficult. He was forced to put his arms around Janna's midsection to keep from tumbling off the speeder bike. Janna didn't really care. Marco found it extremely weird, which in turn gave Janna a satisfying sense of accomplishment from knowing that her friend was uncomfortable.

Afternoon turned to twilight, and twilight into dusk. The seemingly perpetually overcast sky obscured the stars, leaving only the jump speeder's headlamp to guide the pair on their way.

"Can you imagine the old days?" Janna asked as she and Marco took another break sometime in the middle of the night. "Thousands of years ago, when there were no electronics to navigate by?"

"You mean even before starships?" the Padawan wondered.

"Yup. When even just getting to the other side of the planet was an ordeal?"

"I guess you'd have to navigate by the stars," said Marco. "But-"

"How would you do it on a planet like this?" Janna already knew the question he would ask because she wanted to ask it, too.

"Because you rarely see the stars?"

"Yup."

Marco looked up at the blackness overhead. "I think I remember reading somewhere in the archives that ancient Force-users that came before the Jedi and the Sith could find their way anywhere by using the Force."

Janna looked at Marco quizzically. "How would they do that?"

Marco shrugged. "I guess if you were strong enough with the Force and were familiar with the essence of the place you were going, you could feel your way there. Maybe? I don't know. Something I definitely will never be able to do..."

Janna's eyes drifted back up to the sky and she sighed. A strange feeling was pricking at the back of her neck, and she couldn't figure out was it was. It was making her uncomfortable.

"Come on," she said, hoping back onto the bike where Marco already sat. "Let's keep going."

On through the night they went, until daylight flittered through the clouds.

"How much further?" Marco called over the wind rushing past.

"A few more hours," Janna answered as she checked the navigation screen. "We're making better time than I thought we would."

"Oh, that's good. Because...I haven't slept in like a week...except for being unconscious...and a little loth-cat nap...and I'm starting to have trouble staying awake."

Janna's eyelids were starting to feel heavy, too, but she was determined to get back to her ship, so she kept going.

Another hour passed, and then another. Janna staved off the beckoning of sleep, but it was becoming more and more difficult with every passing minute.

Finally, just as both smuggler and Padawan thought they could go no further, the silhouette of the YV-560 freighter appeared on the horizon.

"There she is," Janna said. "We made it."

**I think I'm going to stop worrying about trying to keep up with the weekly update and focus more on making sure that each chapter is actually, you know, good. Updates might be a little bit less frequent, but they will be as often as I finish a chapter. In other words, whenever possible.**

**Don't forget to review, and I'll see you again soon!**


	18. Forbidden Emotions

PY-HD switched off the micro arc welder attachment and inspected its work. Perfect, as it had expected. Why wouldn't it be? It was the best droid in the whole galaxy (as far as it was concerned) and its work was never anything less than exceptional.

Turning away from the low bench where it had been working on the navicomputer circuitry, the astromech rolled out of the tiny but well-lit machine shop on the lower deck of the _Raventalon. _It was time for a scanner check.

Captain Ordonia had programmed her astromech droid to constantly monitor the scanners while the ship was on the ground. If PY-HD had been given a task to perform, then the droid's programming would tell it to stop what it was doing and check the ship's scanners every 20 standard minutes.

Sure, there were also contingency rules in place in case of emergency, but they didn't apply at the moment, so PY-HD headed for the tiny turbolift just large enough for it to fit into, and shot up to to main deck.

Upon reaching the cockpit, PY-HD wasted no time in plugging into the computer interface terminal. It wanted to get back to work on the guts of the navicomputer. Progress was finally being made. But, programming was programming and it couldn't be ignored. At least ten minutes of monitoring was the rule, so PY-HD started a countdown and settled in to wait. This planet was empty, abandoned. What reason was there to scan?

A minute passed. Then two, then five, then nine. One minute to go.

And then, with just twenty seconds remaining on the mandatory scanner monitoring time, PY-HD picked something up.

The droid chittered in annoyance. Picking up anything out of the ordinary at all meant the clock reset until all had been quiet for double the usual mandatory time.

A quick secondary scan revealed that it actually wasn't anything unknown or suspicious at all. The hit on the radar had the exact same magnetic signature as-

PY-HD immediately disconnected from the computer. One of those contingency rules had been met. The droid bolted out of the cockpit and tore down the corridor back to the droid-sized turbolift and returned to the lower deck.

* * *

When Star Butterfly was younger, she had habit of chewing on her lightsaber. As subconscious behaviors go, it wasn't exactly very safe. Marco had tried very hard to help her stop before she accidentally ignited the weapon with her teeth, and had been successful in helping her break the habit.

Mostly.

On the occasion that Star was anxious, she reverted to her old ways. For whatever reason, chewing on her lightsaber gave her a slight feeling of comfort. On Moraband, where the strong presence of the Dark Side of the Force swirled around her like a fog, combined with Marco's absence causing her to worry for his safety, Star was incredibly anxious. Without even fully realizing what she was doing, her lightsaber had found its way into her hand, and then up to her mouth, the emitter ending up between her teeth.

"Star, can you hand me that flex pipe?" Tom asked from inside the center sublight engine, his hand extending out and pointing to the item in question laying on the floor.

"Haglaaang."

Tom's face appeared through the access panel. "What?"

Star removed the lightsaber hilt from her mouth long enough to say, "I said 'hang on,'" and crouched down to retrieve the flex pipe for Tom.

As he took the part from her hand and said "Thank you," Tom felt bad for Star. He could see the way that every aspect of their current situation was eating at her and wished there was something he could do to help. Nothing he could think of seemed appropriate, though. _I think probably the best thing I could do is get these engines up and running again so that we can go pick up Janna and Marco, _Tom thought. _Being reunited with Marco would probably be the best help to her until we can get off this planet._

The demonicite's thoughts were interrupted by synthetic squealing. He looked out through the access panel again and saw PY-HD in the engine room doorway. "Pony Head? What's wrong?"

The droid bleeped something else. "A hit on the scanner? Really?" He began climbing out of the engine and Star set down her lightsaber to help him. "Thanks, Starship. Let's get up to the-"

"Whadidya just call me?"

"...what?"

Star looked at him blankly through wide eyes. "You...you called me...something."

Tom's purplish cheeks blushed pink."Uh...you mean...'Starship'?"

"Yeah. That." Her tone was not so much annoyed as it was confused.

"Did...did you...not care for that?"

"Yeah, please don't...don't do that."

"Sorry." Tom's face turned even darker red. "Uh, let's get up to the cockpit and check out that hit on the scanner."_  
_

"Mmkay."

They climbed the stairs to the upper deck while PY-HD took the droid lift and reconvened in the cockpit of the _Raventalon_. "Let's see what we got here," Tom said, immediately hopping into the copilot's seat and flipping switches to bring up the scanner readouts on his console screen.

"Uh...Tom." Hearing Star say his name he turned to look at her. She was pointing out the viewscreen. "I see it."

Some type of small craft was streaking toward them, kicking up a cloud of dust that hung in the air behind it as it went.

Tom leaned over the control panel trying to get a better look. Star did the same beside him. "What the heck...?"

Despite the cloud cover overhead, the daylight still caused an obstructive glare on the transparisteel veiwscreen. Star shielded her eyes and squinted. "Is...is that Marco and Janna?"

"I think it is!"

Simultaneously, they turned and made eye contact, each reading the surprise and confusion on the other's face. No audible communication was required. They both bolted from the cockpit, PY-HD following right behind them.

* * *

The trio ran down the boarding ramp just as the jump speeder was slowing to a stop in front of the _Raventalon. _

Janna and Marco were exhausted from their lengthy ride, sore from sitting on the bike's hard seats that had not been designed with lengthy extended travel in mind.

Janna turned the bike sideways as she brought it to a stop, angling it so that Marco's missing left leg was hidden from view.

"Marco!" they heard Star excitedly yell.

"Hey, Sta- Oof!" Marco groaned as Star literally tackled him off the speeder, landing astride him on the ground with her arms desperately wrapped around him.

Almost instantly, Star felt better. No longer did she feel any effect of the Dark Side on her mind, and no anxiety whatsoever. "Marco...I'm so glad you're back," she said quietly, squeezing him so hard that poor Marco couldn't breathe.

"I...missed...you too...Star!" Marco gasped. He couldn't even hug her back because she had his arms pinned at his sides.

PY-HD, watching with interest, whistled mockingly.

Tom meanwhile strolled over to Janna, who was slumped over the speeder bike's handlebars in exhaustion. "I didn't expect to see you until you'd found something to salvage to fix the hull," he said. "What are you guys doing back? Why didn't you contact us?"

"I tried, but there was some kind of weird interference on the comm channel. As for why we came back..." Janna slowly turned her head to look at her two Jedi friends. Star was still clinging to Marco, her head nestled in beneath his chin. Her eyes were closed, and it didn't look like she had any intention of moving. Her long mane of blonde hair hid Marco's injury and blood-stained clothing. "Give it maybe another twenty seconds or so and you'll probably see why."

Tom frowned in confusion and looked over at Star and Marco, the latter of which was beginning to turn slightly blue in the face.

And then Star felt something sticky on her fingers. She opened her eyes and released Marco, holding up her hands to examine them. Her fingers were smeared with blood. Her eyes went wide with terror as she followed the sticky trails of congealed dark red liquid on the sleeves of Marco's hoodie, which she still wore.

"M-M-M-Marco!" She looked over him, spotting the edges of the blood stain on the sides of his gray shirt, and the red spot on the hem where Janna had wiped off his lightsaber. "Marco, why are you covered in blood?!"

She jumped off of him in panic and spotted his missing leg. She froze in surprise, her suddenly whirling mind unsure of how to react.

"Marco, your-!"

Behind Janna on the opposite side of the speeder bike, Tom fainted. "Lightweight," Janna chuckled to herself as she watched her copilot lying unconscious on the ground.

"Marco-!"

"It's okay, Star!" he quickly assured her. "I'm fine!"

"Fine?! You're missing a leg and you're covered in blood!"

Taking stock of the situation, Janna pulled herself off the bike as quickly as she could, crouching down beside Star and putting an arm around the Padawan. "Marco's okay, Star. He's not bleeding anymore, he just needs to be cleaned up and have his burns treated."

"B-b-but...his leg-!"

"I'll make him a new one, don't worry."

Star's mind was racing attempting to process what was going on. "Wha...what happened?"

Marco swallowed hard. "Well, Janna and I were split up at the time, and I can't actually remember."

Behind them, PY-HD was nudging Tom's unconscious body and making sarcastic-sounding bleeps and bloops that no one was paying any attention to.

"As near as I can figure it, he fell down an embankment that was at the mouth of a cave, cut his leg open on...something..." Janna's voice trailed off. She appeared deep in thought.

"Uh...you were saying?" Star coaxed.

"Oh, right. Sorry. He cut his leg open on something and must have hit his head a couple times on his way down, too, which is probably why he can't remember what happened. It looked to me like he was trying to cauterize the wound with his lightsaber and, I don't know, passed out or something and accidentally cut his lower leg off instead."

"But it stopped the blood from gushing out, so at least I didn't bleed to death," Marco added quickly.

"Oh, Marco..." Star gently touched the burned stump just below Marco's knee with her fingertips. "I can't believe this happened to you..."

"Yeah...neither can I." In an effort to try to relieve some of the tension in the air, he added, "I didn't even get to lose my leg in a cool way, like in duel with a Sith Lord or something. I did it to myself like an idiot!"

Star cracked a tiny smile. "You sure are." _But I still love you..._

Janna got to her feet. "C'mon. Help me get Stumpy here onto the ship so I can treat his burn and check out the rest of him."

"Oh, please don't start calling me that-"

"Yeah, good idea, Janna. Let's go."

Star helped Marco to a sitting position and then the girls each pulled one of Marco's arms around their shoulders, Star on the left and Janna on the right. They dragged the injured Padawan toward the boarding ramp of the _Raventalon. _

Star noticed Tom still laying unconscious on the ground as they passed the jump speeder. PY-HD was prodding him with one of its various attachments. "What about Tom?"

"He'll be fine, Pony's watching him."

"Okay," Star replied without a second thought.

They walked on past carrying their burden, but no sooner were they up the ramp, PY-HD lost interest in prodding at Tom and hurried back into the ship, hoping to return to its work on the navicomputer.

And Tom was left lying passed out on the ground.

* * *

Janna cut the end of the bandage off and applied an adhesive strip to hold it in place. "That oughta do it."

Marco looked down at what remained of his left leg. After he took a very difficult sitting-down shower to clean off all the dried blood and changed into some of Tom's spare clothes, Janna and Star had carefully cleaned the burn and applied a bacta gel before wrapping the end of his stump with a bandage to keep it clean.

Star slowly came closer to Marco as Janna stepped aside. He was propped up on several pillows in a half-sitting position. "How ya feeling, Marco?" she asked quietly, placing her hand on his arm.

"Um...weak. Very weak, and tired."

Janna called, "Well, you did lose a lot of blood," from the other side of Tom's cabin. She picked up her data pad. "Well, my medical scanning equipment isn't exactly top-of-the-line, but it looks like you're mostly okay. You do have a mild concussion, but nothing too serious."

"I can help with that!" Star said. "With my Force healing."

Janna nodded. "Good, because I honestly don't know how to treat a concussion."

Marco raised an eyebrow. "But you do know how to treat blaster wounds and accidentally amputated legs?"

She ignored him, tucking her datapad under her arm and heading for the door. "I'll leave you two alone so you can concentrate."

She started to leave, but stopped when she heard Marco call, "Hey, Janna?"

Captain Ordonia turned back to him. "Thank you. For everything. I...I really owe you one."

"You owe me at least three," Janna laughed. Then she gave Marco a friendly smile. "You're welcome, Marco." She pointed to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go crash onto my bed and pass out."

"I think you've earned it, Janna," Star chuckled.

"'Night." And Janna left, closing the door behind her.

And so, the two Jedi Padawans were left alone. Their eyes drifted about, each bashfully avoiding the other until eventually, their gaze met.

"Uh, okay, Marco, let's, uh-"

"Star, I love you."

Star blinked in surprise. "What?"_  
_

_I said it. I can't believe it__,__I said __it. _"I'm in love with you, Star." _There it is. Out in the open now. _

For several agonizingly long and intense seconds, the two best friends stared at each other, neither quite sure how to react.

And then Star slowly leaned down close to Marco's face, her brilliant blue eyes looking into Marco's soft brown ones with reverence and nervous anticipation.

Slowly and gently, she kissed him.

Marco's heart pounded what blood he had left in his veins, and he felt lightheaded. He didn't care. His hands rose from the bunk and took Star by the shoulders, and she in turn gently placed one hand behind his neck, drawing him to her.

Neither was sure how long the kiss lasted. It felt like both eternity and a brief passing moment at the same time. They didn't care. They were relieved. Relived the other reciprocated their affections, and relieved just to still be alive and together.

And for a second time, the marks on their cheeks, both visible and invisible, glowed. But, for a second time, neither noticed. Their eyes were closed, and, when they reluctantly ended the kiss, the glow instantly vanished.

Star released Marco, her mouth curved into the most joyous of grins. "I doubt you need me to actually say it, but...I love you, too, Marco."

"It feels good to say it, doesn't it?" Marco asked, his mouth curling into an involuntary grin as joyful tears began to slip from his eyes. "I love you, Star."

"It does, it feels so good! I love you, Marco!" Similar tears slipped down Star's cheeks as she kissed him again, harder this time, and more desperately.

"How long?" Star asked when they broke apart again. "How long have you felt like this?"

"I don't really even know when it started. But it's been a while. Over a standard year, probably."

"Really? Oh..." Star's thoughts raced in her mind. "You...you were willing to abandon the Jedi Order...for me..."

Marco nodded. "Yeah, I was..."

"Because...you love me..."

A nod was Marco's only response.

"Wow..." Star sat down on the edge of the bunk. "Why confess now, though?"

"Well, for one thing, Tom and Janna both figured out that you were in love with me."

"Tom figured it out, too?! Man, I really didn't think I was being that obvious."

"Plus I just almost bled to death...kinda put things in perspective, you know?"

"Yeah...toooootally."

For a few moments more, they did nothing but smile at each other, neither wanting the singular beautiful moment in the sea of catastrophe they'd been experiencing since the night of Order 66 on Coruscant to come to an end.

"Maybe we should...actually...do something about your concussion now, you know?" Star said slowly.

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," Marco chuckled. "What do you need me to do?"

"Um...sit up a second?" Star instructed. Marco propped himself up off the pillows he was leaning against, and Star slid them back closer to the top edge of the bunk. "Okay, lay back down."

He did so, his head landing squarely on the center of the pillows in a perfectly horizontal position, looking straight up at the ceiling. "How's that?"

"Perfect." She stood at the top end of the bunk so that the top of Marco's head was directly in front of her. His eyes shifted up as he looked upside down at her face.

"Hi," he said simply, grinning at her.

"Hi," she said in returned, involuntarily smiling back.

Once again, they just stared at each other affectionately, neither having anything to say. Eventually, though, Marco did say "Okay, so now what?"

"Oh, yeah, right. The, uh, Force healing," Star laughed nervously, having been so blissfully lost in Marco's eyes that she'd completely forgotten what they were doing. She held her palms flat, vertically on either side of Marco's head, just a few centimeters from his temples and focused her mind, feeling the inside of his skull with the Force and using it both to relieve the pressure on Marco's brain and influence the midichlorians within Marco to repair the damaged tissue. She slowly circled his head with her hands, the swirling currents of the Force inside Marco's head lulling him into a peaceful sleep.

When she finished, Marco was still sleeping peacefully. _He's so cute when he's sleeping_, Star thought. _I should let him rest. He's been through a lot. _She gently kissed him on the forehead and quietly left Tom's cabin, looking back at him longingly one last time before closing the door.

She wandered out into the galley hoping to find Janna, but Captain Ordonia wasn't there. "Oh. Right. Janna went to bed." With a sigh, Star collapsed into one of the seats around the small galley table, feeling drained from the concentration and mental effort of the Force-healing session.

A moment later, Tom walked in, brushing dust off of his jacket. "Hey, I just woke up outside on the ground and I don't really remember how I got there."

Star quickly sat up. "Tom! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot you were out there!"

"It's cool," he said, trying to sound nonchalant. "But how did I end up out there? I remember running out there because Janna and Marco were coming, but then...?"

"Oh, uh, well, you noticed that Marco...wasn't entirely there, aaaaaannnnnd...you fainted when you saw it."

"'Wasn't entirely there'?"

"Yeah, Marco is missing a leg. Well, part of his leg."

Tom cringed. "Ohhhhh. Oh! Oh my gosh! Is he okay?"

"He...He will be. Janna said she could make him a prosthetic."

Tom slid into the seat beside her. "Oh, yeah, she totally can."

"Has she ever made a cybernetic prosthetic- Heh, that was fun to say- Has she ever made something like that before?"

"Not that I'm aware of. But, honestly, I've never seen Janna be incapable of doing something she says she can do. If she says she can make him a cybernetic prosthetic- You're right, that is fun! -then I have no doubt that she can."

Star smiled. "Yeah. Janna's awesome."

Tom raised a curious eyebrow. "You seem...different, Star. Ever since we landed on this rock, you've been jittery and nervous, but all of a sudden you seem more like yourself again."

Completely unaware until Tom pointed it out, Star suddenly realized that she no longer felt the presence of the Dark Side of the Force pressing down on her. The incessant feeling of death no longer plagued her mind, her anxiousness was gone, and she felt far more calm and at ease. "Huh...I...I don't sense all the darkness anymore."

"Really?"

"I don't know, it's weird. Maybe I, like, subconsciously figured out how to block it out? Yeah, that seems just logical enough to make sense."

"I honestly thought it was because Marco was here."

Star quickly looked away. _Ohhhhh...that actually makes a lot of sense._ "Yeah, I guess that may be, too," she said, trying to hide her blushing face from the demonicite. She stood up from the table. "I'm, uh, gonna go get the blood out of Marco's clothes for him," she said, suddenly very thankful to have an excuse to go be somewhere else.

"Oh, okay. I'm sure he'll really appreciate that."

"Yeahhhh, I'm sure he will. Uh...later."

Tom watched Star scamper out of the galley and sighed. "Yup. It's definitely because of Marco."

* * *

Janna and Marco slept for a long time, Star periodically checking in on her best friend throughout the night, wishing she could be there beside him, but resided herself to sleeping in the crew lounge so that she wouldn't disturb him. In the morning, Marco slowly roused from his slumber at the sound of the door to the cabin opening and rolled over to find Star standing over him. "Aren't you a pleasant sight to wake up to?" he said with a smile.

Star giggled. "How ya feeling this morning, Marco?"

"Pretty good, actually. I slept really, really well. Best night of sleep I've had since the night before the attack on the Jedi Temple."

"That's great! But how's the rest of you feel?"

Marco test-shifted his arms and one-and-a-half legs. "Pretty good."

"Good!"

They awkwardly stared at each other silently for a moment, both Padawans wondering if the other's feelings had changed following last night's occurrences.

"So, uh..." Marco began, sitting up on the bunk, "I know I got knocked upside the head. I'm hoping my memory isn't messed up. Last night, did we...?"

Star giggled and took his hand in hers. "Kiss?"

"Um...yeah," Marco nervously chuckled.

She nodded and smiled at him happily, hoping to convey that her feelings had not changed. "Yeah, Marco. We kissed."

Marco was not sure how to reply despite the involuntary smile his lips were curling into. "Oh...that's cool. Glad, uh...my memory isn't messed up." He was met with more giggles from Star, obviously finding his inability to put his thoughts into words amusing. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Did, um...did you want to-?"

"Do it again?"

"Yeah, that."

Marco was not given a chance to say anything further before Star's lips met his own. Her arms wrapped him in a tight hug, which he returned as best he could from his awkward position in bed. This was not the same kiss as those shared last night. This was a hard kiss, passionate, as the two best friends who had secretly loved one another for so long were finally able to physically express their affections for each other.

"USE TONGUE!"

Star leapt backwards and Marco about flew off the bunk. They looked toward the sound of the voice to find Janna leaning against the bulkhead in the open doorway, smiling smugly. "Good morning, lovebirds. I was wondering how much longer it would be before you two couldn't resist anymore."

"Janna! What are you doing?" Marco yelped. Beside him, Star was blushing nearly as red as Marco's hoodie, which she still currently wore over her blue dress.

Captain Ordonia shrugged. "You left the door open. Soooo...?"

"So what?" Star asked.

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Um...not even twelve hours yet?" Marco answered.

"Which one of you caved in and fessed up?"

"Janna-" Star began, but Janna held up a hand and cut her off.

"Which one?"

"Marco did." And the boy in question blushed.

Janna nodded. "I knew he would. Anyway, I'm gonna help Tom finish up with the engines, or rather, he's gonna help me because I can do the work way faster than he can, so we can get this baby flying again," she said, rapping her knuckles on the bulkhead. "Then we can get back to searching for stuff to fix the hull."

"'Kayyy," Star said, still embarrassed and hoping Janna would leave. "Sounds like a plan."

Janna winked at them. "Later, you two."

And she left. Star held up her hand and focused the Force on the the door control, depressing the button. A second later, the door to the cabin slid shut. Groaning in frustration, Star sat down on the edge of the bunk, covering her face and holding her head in her hands. "That was embarrassing."

"You can say that again."

* * *

Janna found Tom already down in the engine room, getting to work. He and Star had made good progress on repairing the sublight engines and there wasn't much left to do. The Demonicite was already inside the center engine, loosening a stubborn bolt with a hand wrench.

"Hey, Lucy, guess what?"

"Hey, Janna. What?"

"I just caught Star and Marco making out in your room."

There was a loud clanging sound and Tom yelped "Ow!"

"You okay in there?"

"Yeah, I'm good. The wrench slipped off." Tom's face suddenly appeared in the access hatch. "Were they really?"

"Totally. They finally fessed up."

"Took them long enough. Gee, I hope they don't do...you know...other things...in my bunk."

Janna laughed. "Dude, they literally just confessed their feelings to each other last night. I don't think they're anywhere near that point yet. Plus, Marco just had his leg cut off and also has a concussion, I don't think he's in condition for any kind of 'rigorous physical activity.'" She made air quote with her fingers.

"Right, right."

"Now get out of there and let me see what you've got going on." Janna helped Tom climb out of the engine through the open access hatch, and as he did, she asked, "Incidentally, what would you care if they did?"

"Uh, because it's _my_ bunk!"

"Right, right."

They suddenly locked eyes, both noticing the same thing.

"Did we both just-?" Tom began.

"Use the same...?"

"Yeah. We did."

Janna blinked. "That was weird."

"Yeah, lets never do that again."

* * *

As Star was busily re-bandaging his leg after applying fresh bacta-gel to the burn, Marco gazed at his best friend, his heart having never felt so full.

Star noticed his stare and paused in her work. "You are giving me the dumbest grin I have ever seen," she said.

"I am?"

She laughed. "Yeah, you are." Star cut the end of the bandage off and secured the wrapping, stepping back to appreciate her handiwork. "Perfect. Now how about we check out that cute little head of yours again?"

"Aw, my head is cute?"

She came around behind him and affectionately stroked his dark brown hair. "Very."

"Do you want me to put my head back again?"

"No, I think keep it upright this time. Just hold still."

Once again, Star held her hands vertically on either side of Marco's head and focused on his cranium with the Force, influencing the midichlorians to restore the damage. As it had last night, the effect of the Force on his mind had a strong calming effect on Marco, and he began to lull into an almost trance-like state.

Then, after several minutes of extreme calm, Marco was hit with a sensation of extreme clarity, and memories came flooding back all at once.

"Star!" he yelped.

"What?!" Surprised by his sudden outburst, she took a hasty step backwards.

"I remember! I..." He turned his head around to look at Star, and she could see that all of the color had drained from his face. "I remember how I lost my leg."

"Marco...are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"...I did."

"Say what now?"

"I did see a ghost, Star. Like, a real, live...um...dead...ghost!"

Star came over and sat down on the edge of the bunk beside Marco. "Okay, I'm gonna need more than that."

"Janna and I made our camp for the night inside this structure we came across that turned out to be a tomb. In the middle of the night, I heard something calling to me, coming from inside the tomb. When I went to see what it was, this- Star, I swear, it was on fire. The ghost was on fire. Or it was _made_ of fire. Or...something!" He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to his face. "Star...it was the ghost of Darth Bane!"

"...Yeahhhh, I don't know who that is."

"Of course you don't." He released Star and went on. "Remember that one time when Master Fisto was poking fun at Master Yoda? And he did an imitation of Yoda's voice and said 'Always two there are, no more no less. A Master and an apprentice.'"

"Ha ha, yeah! That was funny!"

"It's called 'The Rule of Two.' Darth Bane was the ancient Sith Lord who established it. The Sith Empire fell because it's power-hungry members killed each other, and Bane was the last one alive. He created the Rule of Two to prevent it from happening again."

"And it was his ghost?"

"Yup."

"And what did...Darth Bane...say to you?"

"He...He asked if I wanted to be his apprentice. He said I'd be perfect because..." Marco fell silent, too afraid to continue.

"Because why?"

"Because..." Marco swallowed nervously. "Because I have a lot of darkness in me."

It was Star's turn to go pale. "Yeah, that's not what you wanna hear from the ghost of an ancient Sith Lord."

"No, it is not."

Star suddenly jumped. "Oh my gosh! We kissed! Can darkness be transmitted through oral contact?! Am I gonna be infected with the Dark Side now?!"

"What?" Marco was genuinely confused. "No, I don't think that's how it works, Star."

"Hang on, wait. What does this have to do with losing your leg?"

"Well, I was kind of terrified...you know, like, beyond all rational thought, so I ran away. I don't even think I was aware of what I was doing, my body was just running on autopilot. At some point, I fell over the edge of some embankment at the mouth of a cave and tumbled down, and from that point, Janna's guess about what happened to me is correct. Hit my head on the way down, something sharp caught my leg and cut it open, I was bleeding out, tried to use my lightsaber to cauterize it, lost consciousness. And then I guess dropped my lightsaber when I passed out and it cut my leg off."

For a moment, the cabin became eerily silent. Then Star said, "So...what exactly does that mean?"

Marco shook his head. "I have no idea. But now that I remember what Bane said to me...I wish I could forget it. It's really, really scary. I think he even said something like 'I can see into your future, it is pointless-' No. Um...Fruitless, that was it. Fruitless. What a weird word. 'It is fruitless to resist.'"

"Well...I mean...no future is set in stone, right? How reliably have any Force-users ever been able to predict the future?"

"Hmm...I see your point."

"Exactly. Besides, you're Marco Diaz, student of Kit Fisto! You aren't gonna let some dumb ol' dead guy tell you what your future holds! You are a Jedi, and you've always been the best Jedi you could be because you love being a Jedi!"

"A Jedi who is currently super-breaking the Jedi Code with his best friend who also happens to be a Jedi," Marco quipped.

Star shrugged. "Eh, nobody's perfect."

Marco's last statement had been meant as a joke, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. "What if...?"

"What?"

"What if...you're the reason the Dark Side is taking hold in me? Because I have emotional attachment to you?"

Star didn't have an answer to that question, but she suddenly felt like a rock had dropped into the pit of her stomach. "What would you do if it was the reason?"

Marco swallowed, fighting back tears. "I don't know. I've been in love with you now for so long...I don't think I could stop if I tried, especially now that I know you love me back."

Star took Marco's hand and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Well...I'm sure you'll be fine, Marco. I'll be right here to help you."

Marco managed to return her smile, and she leaned down to kiss him once more.

"By the way," Star went on, "what actually happened to your leg after it was cut off?"

"Oh! I totally forgot about that part! When Janna found me, this giant monster came out of the cave and attacked us!"

"And it ate your leg?"

"No. Janna didn't have her blasters, so I gave her my lightsaber to fight it off. Star, you should have seen her. For someone who isn't Force-sensitive and had never held a lightsaber before, she fought brilliantly! I mean, you or I would still beat her in lightsaber combat, but against that beast, she was great!"

"Wow! Janna Banana, when will you cease to amaze me? I wish I could have seen that. But if the monster didn't eat your leg, what happened to it?"

"After Janna killed the monster, it's, uh...stomach split open...it started spilling out all this gross liquid..."

Star looked as sick as Marco felt.

"...and all these giant worms came out...I guess they were some sort of parasite?"

Star cupped her mouth with her hands. "Marco, please stop describing it."

"Hey, just imagine how I feel. I had to look at it."

"Good point."

"Well, Janna had to fight them off, too, and there were a lot, too many for her to keep track of all at once, and one of them ate my leg."

"That is so, so gross."

"Yeah, it definitely was."

Star sat back on the edge of the bunk. "So Janna fought with your lightsaber. That's pretty awesome."

"Yeah. If I'm being honest..." Marco looked rather embarrassed. "I kinda have a whole new respect for Janna. Not just because of her fighting skill, but because she was fighting to save me. And she mostly carried me out of that cave, and she rode all through the night to get back here to make sure I got proper medical attention..."

"I know she's teased you and given you a hard time for...well, pretty much as long as we've known her, but I've always told you that she likes you. I hope you realize now that I wasn't lying."

"Yeah...I do."

Star plopped down beside him, lying on her side and staring into his eyes. "But I like you more. Leg or no leg, Dark Side or no Dark Side, you'll always be my best friend." And she kissed Marco on the cheek. "Just don't start killing people like Anakin Skywalker did because that will significantly alter how much I love you."

"Yeah...lets hope it doesn't ever come to that."

Star laughed, and as they kissed again, the muffled whirring sound of the _Raventalon_'s engines coming online echoed through the ship.

* * *

"What exactly is your plan here, Janna?" Marco asked.

Captain Ordonia flipped a toggle switch on the control panel as she guided the ship at a modestly slow pace just a hundred feet or so off the Moraband surface. "Something about that cave I found you in bothered me. The ground was too smooth, almost as if it had been ground down. And, when I tried to contact Tom on the comm, there was some kind of weird interference that was messing with the frequency. Plus, I never looked to see if I could find whatever you cut your leg on. All the rocks and mountains on this planet are super worn down, nothing is sharp, so I don't think it was a sharp rock."

"And what?" Tom said as he checked their location on the scanner. "You think whatever it is may be is worth going back to check out?"

Janna rolled her eyes. "Good detective skills, Tom."

Marco really didn't want to go back. He had no desire to relive the experience he had had down in that cave the first time. "Heh heh, oh, too bad I can't walk or I'd totally go down there with you," he said, not even making an attempt at sounding sincere.

Star playfully punched him in the shoulder from her seat beside him. "Don't worry, Marco. I'll go with Janna this time."

"You will?" Janna asked skeptically while still looking straight ahead to fly. "What happened to the constant presence of the Dark Side or whatever making you go crazy?"

"I was not going crazy! It was just making me extremely uncomfortable." She pulled Marco's hoodie around her slightly tighter. "But I'm feeling significantly better now."

"Alright. Cool."

A few minutes later, they reached the tomb of Darth Bane. Janna set the _Raventalon _down just beyond the end of the concourse that lead up to it.

"Let's go check this place out again!" Janna said excitedly as she stood up from the pilot's seat. She circled around behind where Marco sat on her way out of the cockpit, but stopped when she heard her name.

"Janna."

When she turned back, Marco was holding out his lightsaber to her.

"Here. Take this."

Janna was rather shocked that Marco would offer up his lightsaber to her voluntarily and outside of the immediate threat of danger. She was, in fact, rather touched. "Really?"

Marco nodded. "Just in case."

Hesitantly, as if she thought it might be a trick, Janna reached out and took hold of the hilt. Marco, however, did not let go right away. He looked her square in the eye, his expression suddenly hard. "Do not lose this," he said seriously.

"Don't worry, Marco. I won't let it out of my sight."

Marco released his weapon, and Janna clipped it to her belt just as he would. She gave him a friendly smile. No words were needed to communicate the message. Then she turned to Star. "Ready, Star?"

"Just a second." She leaned over closer to Marco. "See you soon, Marco," she said, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Bye, Star."

As the girls left, Tom called after them, "Be careful!"

"We will!" Star yelled back at the exact same time that Janna yelled "We won't!"


	19. Raid the Hanger

**I am so excited! This story has a legitimate cover now! Thank you so much to andychipss on Instagram for the amazing cover art! (****L****ook closely: She even did a very ****accurate**** recreation of Kit Fisto's lightsaber hilt in Marco's hand!) **

**This chapter is called "Raid the Hanger". You know, like the episode titled "Raid the Cave"? Get it?**

**Yeah, you get it. **

"It's right through here," Janna said, stepping around a blind in the rock.

Sure enough, there it was, the ground abruptly dropping off into a sharp slope. It was easy to see how Marco had fallen down it in the dark. Even in daylight, it was almost invisible until the girls were right on top of it, thanks to the rock face that jutted out just a few meters behind it, leaving the top of the slope exposed to sunlight.

"So that's the cave, huh?" Star looked down the slope. As opposed to most of the ground they had encountered which was either big slabs or hardened lava flows, this slope was made of loose rocks, none larger than half of a meter across. The gaps between were filled with smaller stones and sand.

"Yup. That's where I found Marco." Janna pointed. "Look, there's some drips of blood on the rocks from when I hauled him up the slope."

"Oh, that's greaaaat." Star elected not to look at the blood and instead began slowly and carefully making her way down.

Janna followed, choosing a path down a few meters away. "Keep an eye out for whatever Marco cut his leg on. There has to be something in here."

They slowly worked their way down the slope, searching for anything sharp enough to slice through skin. Halfway down, Star spotted something sticking up from between the rocks. It had a layer of dark, crusty dried blood on it.

"Janna! I think I found it!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!"

Janna scurried over the loose stones to where Star stood. There, sticking up only about 8 or 9 centimeters out of the rocks was a thin piece of rusty metal. Curiously, both edges had perfect and identical 90 degree bends.

"This looks like a bracket of some kind," Janna said, pointing to the bends. She grabbed it with her right hand and attempted to yank it out of the ground, but it was stuck fast and did not budge. "Do you think you could dig this thing out with the Force?"

"Not a problem!" Star said, confidently flexing her fingers. "Stand back!"

"Just don't pull out a load bearing rock and cause a rock slide," Janna called as she hurried out of the way.

"No promises." Star raised her arms and began to carefully maneuver the rocks away from the piece of metal, floating them out of the way with the Force. From her safe distance, Janna watched as more and more of it was exposed. "What the heck...?"

Star let the pair of rocks she was lifting drop and they tumbled to the bottom of the slope. "'What the heck' is right. It looks like-"

"Stairs?" Janna said as she came over for a closer look. The piece of metal that had been sticking out of the ground was a bracket that secured a stair tread to the metal scaffold frame, bent out so that it stuck straight up into the air. The stairs were on their side, the treads vertically on end and partially smashed.

"Why is there a set of stairs buried in the side of this slope in a cave?" Star asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I don't know..." Janna looked up the side of the rock face that was nearly directly above their heads, studying it carefully. "But I think I could take a guess." She pointed up the cliff side. "Look, there's anchors in the rock. And, you know, holes where anchors used to be. Check out the pattern they're in."

"I see it! Those stairs used to be attached to the side of the cliff there."

"Exactly. And look at the very top. The top of the cliff looks like it's been sheered off."

"So the top of the rock face came off and ripped the stairs down, and then the stairs were buried by the falling rock."

"Exactly. So the question is..." Janna paused purely for dramatic effect. "Why were there stairs here?"

Without waiting for Star to respond, Janna carefully climbed the rest of the way down the slope, pulling Marco's lightsaber from her belt as she reached the bottom. She knelt down and ignited the blade, the edge of the glow revealing the dried pool of blood several meters away. She examined the floor as Star came down beside her. "Check it out. Remember I said the floor of the cave was smooth? Far too smooth to have formed naturally," Janna said. "I barely noticed when I was down here before because, you know, Marco was laying in a puddle of his own blood over there." She motioned with the blade of the lightsaber, at which point Star noticed the bodies of the worms Janna had slain in defending Marco. Captain Ordonia got back to her feet. "This cave may have formed naturally, but it was definitely modified for use of some kind." She smiled excitedly. "Let's find out what they were doing down here."

"I'm right behind you!" Star ignited her own lightsaber to increase the illumination. "Lead the way, Janna Banana!"

They squeezed past the lifeless body of the giant cave monster and made their way deeper into the cave. Their footsteps, though light, echoed back at them from the walls and ceiling.

"So, Janna, Marco said you were pretty good with that lightsaber when you rescued him," Star said.

"Did he?" Janna kicked at a pebble on the ground and sent it skipping across the smooth floor. "It felt really cool using it. I promised Marco I wouldn't lose this thing. I never said I was going to give it back," she replied slyly.

Star laughed, genuinely unable to tell if Janna was kidding or not. Her laugh was abruptly cut short when she tripped on something and nearly fell flat on her face.

"Whoa! You okay there, Star?" Janna asked.

"I'm fine. What the heck was that?" She held her lightsaber low to better illuminate the ground. There on the smooth floor was a hunk of durasteel, curved and about twice the size of her hand. She picked it up. "What is this?"

Star handed it to Janna to examine. "It looks like a piece of armor," Janna said, "like a shoulder guard."

"I wonder what that's doing here."

Janna held up her lightsaber and looked deeper into the cave. Something was there on the ground at the edge of her light. Moving closer, she could see that it was a pile of bones, some still connected to each other, like the legs and lower torso, one arm laying separated on the ground. Some lay scattered on the floor, several of them broken. The remains of the skeleton were partially encased in armor made of the same material, and it was peeled open like a fruit. Most disturbingly of all, however, there was no skull.

Janna crouched down to examine the remains. "I'm gonna say it came from this guy."

Star examined the skeleton for herself. "Yikes. I wonder what could have made the armor peel open like that. Think he was torn apart by a monster like the one you killed?"

Janna held the lightsaber even closer, carefully running her hand over the armor. "There are marks on the metal here that look like charring," she observed. "He was blown up by an explosive." She hopped back to her feet. "This just keep getting more interesting! C'mon, let's see what else is down here!"

Star followed close behind as Janna hurried deeper into the cave. They didn't have to go far, however. Another fifteen steps or so and the cave abruptly opened up.

"Whoa," Janna gasped as her eyes drank in the sight.

The space was nearly 100 meters across and relatively circular. The walls stretched far, far up above their heads, gradually growing closer together to give the room a conical shape. A massive, jammed half-open retractable hatch capped the top, allowing just enough light by which to see into the room.

There were supply crates and munitions stacked in various places along the walls, and large pieces of dusty, long-silent equipment patiently awaiting use.

But most impressively, there were spaceships.

At least two dozen ships filled the room which was clearly a hanger. Two large shuttles stood on the far side of the room. Three identical freighters were parked side by side by side just in front of where the girls stood. And in the center were the fighters; long, pointed, aggressive looking single pilot ships with wide s-foils and armed with big laser canons.

"Star?"

"Yeah?"

"We hit the jackpot, Baby."

"Aw, yeahhh."

Janna began to step into the room, but Star suddenly held out her arm and stopped her. "Wait. Something is weird here."

"What kind of something?"

"I don't know. But something has got my weirdness senses tingling." Star slowly scanned the hanger, seeking out anything that might clue her in on her own inexplicable uncomfortable feeling. Her eyes landed on something in the middle of the floor between them and the nearest cargo ship. In the edges of the glow from her lightsaber, she could see that it was a massive worm, just like the ones Janna had slain that she had seen at the cave entrance. And it was dead. "Look! It's one of those worms!"

"Oh yeah. Huh. I wonder what killed it." Janna was unphased.

"There's another one over there!" Star pointed to it with her lightsaber blade. This one was off to the right, closer to the wall. "And another! Way down there."

"Huh." Now Janna was becoming puzzled. "I wonder why they're dead. I mean, they were parasites, maybe they just couldn't survive without a host."

"I don't know...something still feels off..." Star scratched her head with the bottom of her lightsaber hilt.

"Well, I don't think there's anything to worry about," Janna said confidently. "Let's have a little look around first, and then cut some panels off one of these cargo ships here to fix the _Raventalon._" Star reluctantly followed as Captain Ordonia headed into the room, but they had only taken a half dozen steps before a loud whirring sound echoed through the space and froze them in their tracks. Both girls looked to the left toward the sound and saw two glowing yellow eyes staring at them from the far side of the room. The eyes were attached to a hulking droid that was in the process of standing up from its folded-down compact configuration.

_"UNIDENTIFIED PERSONNEL DETECTED. STATE YOUR AUTHORIZATION CODE." _The droid stood nearly twice as tall as each of the girls, imposing even from twenty meters away. _  
_

Star and Janna stood stunned, unsure what to do. "Uhhhhhhh..." They chorused.

_"UNRECOGNIZED AUTHORIZATION CODE__: __'UHHHHH.' SECURITY BREACH, MAIN HANGER, SECTOR TWO."_

The droid's arms, previously straight down at its sides, snapped upwards straight out. It possessed no hands or grasping implements of any kind. Instead, on the end of each its arms were the barrels of five heavy blasters, arranged into a circle. They spat blaster bolts rapid-fire at Janna and Star.

"AAAAHH!" The girls cried as they sprinted toward the nearest cargo ship. On the floor beside it was a stack of supply crates, and they dove behind it, narrowly avoiding obliteration.

"Well, I guess now we know what killed the worms," Janna said. "A very aggressive security droid."

"Funny how it didn't attack that giant monster," Star observed.

Janna shrugged. "That monster was probably so big that it didn't register as a living thing. That droid has to be over a thousand years old, it probably can't tell the difference."

_"SECURITY BREACH, MAIN HANGER, SECTOR TWO." _The mechanical whining of servos accompanied the metallic clanks of the droid's metal feet on the smooth stone floor as it advanced on the girls. Fortunately, its joints were stiff as its ancient lubricant became thick and sticky, and it could not move very quickly.

Janna switched off Marco's lightsaber, returning it to her belt. She reached inside her jacket and pulled out her DC-17 blaster pistol. "Thing makes a pretty big and slow target. Shouldn't be hard to hit."

Poking her head up just high enough to see over the crates, Janna squeezed off six shots from her blaster. Five found their mark and struck the droid's torso. The droid did not appear to have even noticed. It returned fire, orange bolts of energy slamming into the other side of the supply crates as Janna ducked down again. "Man! That thing has some tough armor!"

"So what's plan B?" Star asked.

Both girls flinched as another round of blaster fire struck their cover.

"I'm open to suggestions," Janna said nonchalantly.

Star carefully peaked over the top of the crates and watched the old droid clomping slowly toward them. She spied a large piece of starship servicing equipment that the droid was just about to walk past over to the left.

"I have an idea. I'll use the Force to throw that big piece of equipment at it and knock it over. As soon as it's down, you run out and hack it up with your lightsaber."

Janna smirked. "I like this plan. Let's do it."

Star smiled, feeling confident, and switched off her own lightsaber. She held her hand up, fingers outstretched, concentrating hard. Janna watched, poised to take off running, as the large piece of servicing equipment rose off the floor. A second later, it launched at the droid and slammed into its back with a mighty crash. To both Star and Janna's surprise, the hulking droid barely budged. It did, however, swivel around with lightning speed, the upper half of its body rotating independently of its legs, and it fired a salvo of rounds into it, pummeling the machine with blaster bolts. Then it whirled around once more and Star ducked back down as its photoreceptors made eye contact with her.

"So much for that idea. Now what do we-? Janna?"

Janna was gone.

"Janna? Where'd you go?"

Star looked around, careful to keep her head down as the droid slowly bared down on her.

And then, Star saw her.

When the droid had turned its back to attack the service equipment, Janna had taken off running as planned, but instead of running straight at the droid, she circled around in front of the cargo ship on the left. The ship itself was clearly designed in the style of centuries past. No streamlining whatsoever, it had plenty of easily accessed flat surfaces to utilize for climbing. She scaled the front end of the ship and clambered atop it, and that's where Star spotted her.

The smuggler made eye contact with Star, holding up the deactivated lightsaber hilt in her hand and silently motioning through her plan. Star understood.

"Hey! Ugly!" Star yelled as she jumped up from behind the supply crates. The droid took more careful aim at her. "Nah nah! Can't hit me!" Star's lightsaber blade flashed to life in her hand as she taunted the security droid. It fired on her again, Star twirling her lightsaber with such blinding speed that her emerald blade became nothing but a blur as she deflected the oncoming bolts away.

The droid slowly continued to advance until it was directly below Janna. She leapt off the top of the cargo ship, igniting Marco's lightsaber on her way down.

"YAAAAAA!"

The droid stopped shooting and looked up to see what was happening. The result was the lightsaber blade being plunged into its head right between its glowing orange photoreceptors.

The impact with the droid caused Janna to lose her grip on the lightsaber hilt as the blade lodged itself in the droid's innards. She tumbled down onto the floor, landing on her rear just in front of the security droid as the photoreceptors slowly faded out. The droid was off-balance, however, and it began to topple over forward, right toward Janna.

"Uh-!"

"Janna!" Star raised her left hand and pulled Captain Ordonia backwards with the Force, just far enough that the droid crashed to the ground directly in front of her.

"Woosh," Janna breathed in relief. "That was close. Thanks for the save, Star." She grabbed the hilt of Marco's lightsaber sticking out of the front of the droid's head directly in front of her and yanked it up, slicing a long gash into the droid's back as she extracted it.

Star vaulted over the supply crates and strolled over to Janna, offering her hand. "No big!" the young Jedi said happily. Janna took the offered hand and Star helped the smuggler to her feet. "Good thinking, by the way! You really took that droid completely by surprise!"

Janna brushed some dust from the floor off of her skirt. "Thanks. Not gonna lie, that felt awesome."

"You totally were! But I really hope there aren't more of those things."

"Yeah, me too," Janna said as she strolled over to the side of the cargo ship she had just jumped off of. "Well, we definitely found what we were looking for. Just one of these cargo ships oughta give us all the material we need to repair the _Raventalon_."

"Aw, yeah! We'll be out of here in no time!"

"Before we start cutting it up, though, what do you say we take a little look around? I really want to see what else is here."

"Uh..." Star was apprehensive. She really wanted to get back to Marco. But, she supposed, there was no telling what they might find here. There could be something useful for all they knew. "Okay. But just for a little bit."

"Awesome!" Janna said excitedly. "Let's go!"

They strolled around between the ships, Janna, being a pilot, finding the centuries-old fighters very interesting.

And dusty.

"Kinda weird they'd go through the effort of hollowing out a mountain," Star said. "I would think it would be easier to just...you know...build a hanger."

"I bet this mountain already was hollow," Janna said, looking up at the ceiling. "It was probably a volcano. All this rock is volcanic. Plus, there's no way that eighty percent of the landscape would all be mountains from tectonic activity. I bet this planet was nothing but volcanoes a couple million years ago. That cave we came in through was probably a naturally formed magma vent. They just ground the floor smooth and-"

Star covered her ears and shuddered as she walked. "Oh, Janna, please stop talking!"

Janna laughed at Star's boredom and hopped up on the S-foil of a fighter to peer into the cockpit canopy. "It's kinda weird," Janna said. "Aside from the collapsed stairs where we came in, which could have very easily happened naturally, this base looks like it was just abandoned. In a hurry, too."

Star hopped up atop another stack of supply crates and scanned the hanger. "Yeah, you're right. It's almost as if everyone just..." She shrugged. "Up and left."

"Yeah. Weird." Janna spotted something on the far side of the hanger opposite where they had come in. She pointed to it. "Look, there's another tunnel. Let's see where that one goes."

They headed down into the mountain once more, requiring their lightsabers to see again. This tunnel was different than the one they had entered through. Electrical conduits lined the walls, centuries-dark lights hung from the ceiling at evenly spaced intervals, and the ground had been covered by a glass-smooth black tile.

"Huh, why is this tunnel different?" Star wondered aloud.

"That other cave is probably just an access tunnel." Janna pointed to a door set into the wall on the right just ahead. "This is probably, like, administration and control rooms or something."

The doors had seized shut long ago, but Star managed to coax them open with the Force. The first room turned out to be a scanner monitoring room. To their surprise, some of the equipment was still turned on and functioning.

"Bet you a thousand credits this is what was causing the comm interference," said Janna as she rapped her knuckles on the top of the computer.

The next room was a shield generator, and the one after that was a room with a large table and several holoprojectors that Janna hypothesized to be a war meeting room.

Forty-five minutes later and Star was both getting bored and beginning to feel the darkness surrounding the planet press in upon her again. "Can we head back to the ship now?"

"Just one more thing. I want to know what the stairs that collapsed lead up to."

"Alright. I actually do kinda want to know what's up there myself."

They made the long trek back to the opposite end of the hidden air base. On the walk back through the entrance cave, Star noticed that there were lights installed in the ceiling, nearly invisible if you weren't looking right at them.

"Darn, if only I'd seen them the first time, it would have been super obvious that there was something else here and not just a cave," Janna mused. "Oh, well."

As they clambered up the slope out of the cave, Star posed a question. "So, uh, how exactly do we get up that rock face without the stairs?"

"Can you jump it? Like, you know, how you can boost yourself with the Force?"

Star shook her head. "Nah, even with the Force, that's too high for me to jump. Oh! But I could just lift you up there from down here!"

"Works for me."

At the top of the slope, Star and Janna took their positions. "Ready?" asked Star.

"Go for it."

Star lifted her hands and concentrated on Janna. The smuggler slowly levitated off the ground. "Whoa, this feels weird."

"Do you want me to put you down?"

"I didn't say it was bad-weird. Keep going!"

Star slowly raised her hands above her head as she guided Janna up the side of the rock face, gently setting her down at the top. "See anything up there?" Star called.

"Yeah, there's like a path carved into the rock! I'm gonna follow it and see where it leads!"

"Okay!" Star called up. "Just be careful! And don't be gone too long!"

"Okay!"

Just as Janna had said, beneath her feet was a pathway, etched into the surface of the rock. Urged on by curiosity, she followed it. The ground was uneven. It was, after all, a mountain. Janna followed it as it rose and fell and twisted over the uneven terrain.

After about five minutes, the path wrapped around the back of a large outcropping of rock. When Janna turned the corner, she could see that the path actually turned one-hundred and eighty degrees into the front of the outcrop. The rock had been hollowed out, a door set into the eons-hardened lava, and beside it, a surprisingly still intact transparisteel window.

"What in the galaxy...?"

Janna tried the door, and to her immense surprise, it opened. She stepped through, immediately perplexed at what she saw. There was a single chair, patiently waiting in front of a control panel with a large screen set into it.

"What could this possibly control?"

Janna fiddled with a knob on the dusty control panel, not expecting anything to happen, but the screen suddenly lit up. "Whoa!" Janna leaned closer and inspected the screen. It appeared to be some kind of targeting system. "Targeting for what, though?" Taking a seat in the metal chair behind her, Janna's eyes scanned the controls. They were labeled, the plaques written in aurebesh unlike the text on the wall in the execution chamber they had taken shelter in some days earlier, so while this place was centuries old, it was not quite the same level of ancient.

Beside the control panel was a lever in the floor labeled "deploy." Driven by curiosity, Janna grasped it and pulled it down.

With a cacophony of loud mechanical noises, Janna watched as a previously buried hatch two hundred yards out from the mountain parted in the center, and out of the ground came a long, narrow contraption that pointed straight up into the sky. It was easily one hundred meters long, supported by a pair of fixed legs twenty meters up from the lower end. Affixed to the bottom end was a much thicker component, it's purpose unknown.

"Whoa."

The commlink in Janna's pocket chimed and she answered it. "Hello?"

_"Janna! What the heck is that thing?! Did you do that?" _Star cried on the other end of the transmission.

"Uh...I did."

_"What the heck is it?!"_

"Not sure yet." Janna cut the transmission.

Now hungry for answers, Janna trained her eyes on the screen. It was definitely a targeting computer, so that thing that had just come out of the ground was definitely a weapon of some kind. But something was off.

"Those preset coordinates...that's clear to the opposite side of the galaxy. There's no way a laser could shoot that far!"

Janna looked out the window and squinted at the massively long contraption outside. It definitely was not a canon of any kind. It didn't appear to have a barrel, for one thing. It looked like just a long, square-forged beam of durasteel. The only other feature was what looked to be a slot all the way down the center.

Janna's eyes went wide. "It's a rail gun!"

"A rail gun?"

Janna nearly hit the ceiling when she jumped in surprise. Star was standing right next to her. She hadn't even heard the young Jedi come in. "For crying out loud, Star! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She took a deep breath. "I actually probably deserved that."

Star gave no discernible reaction to Janna's comment. "Why would the ancient Sith have a rail gun?"

"Beats the heck outta me. But if it launched a powered projectile, the range of this thing is probably pretty close to infinite." Janna glanced at the targeting computer again. "I wonder how accurate it is..."

A massive, ancient rail gun certainly is not something one happens upon every day. Janna was practically itching to try it out. But she caught sight of Star's face. The Padawan was beginning to look jittery and downright uncomfortable again, just as she had when they had first landed on Moraband.

Janna sighed. "As much as I would love to test it out, we probably should focus on getting out of here. I can always come back another time." She smiled at Star, who looked relieved. "Come on." She took Marco's lightsaber from her belt and held it up. "Who wants to go cut up a centuries-old cargo ship?"

That was all Star needed to hear. "Ooh! Ooh! I do!"

Janna laughed. "Let's go then!"

And as they left the control room, Janna pushed the lever she had pulled earlier back up again, and the rail gun retracted back into the ground.

"How did you even get up here?" Janna asked as they returned the way they had come.

Star gave Janna a playful shove. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Uh, yeah, that's why I just asked."

Star just skipped ahead. Janna shook her head and smiled.

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	20. Escape From Moraband

**This story has broken 100k words. It doesn't really count, though, because I have a lot of author's notes. The story itself will actually break 100k words when I post chapter 21, though. **

**And guess what? We're still nowhere close to the end. If this were a movie, this chapter would be, like, the end of the first act. **

_Raventalon _Hull Repair, Day 3

Janna flipped up her welding mask and inspected her work. The bond between the section of patch and the existing hull of the _Raventalon _had been perfectly executed, just as she knew it would be. She would repeat the process with a second bead of filler on the inside to ensure an airtight seal against the cold vacuum of space. Her plan, though, was to do all of the interior welding in one shot after she had constructed the entire patchwork from the outside.

"How's it look up there, Janna?" Star called up from the ground. She had been using the Force to lift the salvaged hull plates into the air and hold them in place until Janna, who was using the speeder bike to levitate herself and the arc welder beside the ship's hull, had welded it on in enough spots to secure it.

"Lookin' good!" Janna called back as she removed the welding mask and hung it over the speeder's hand grip. "I'm gonna measure for the next piece and come down and cut it." She looked up into the overcast Moraband sky. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. "It's gonna be dark soon, so after I cut that piece I'll probably call it quits for the day."

"Okay! I'm gonna go check on Marco, then!"

"You do that, Star."

Star happily skipped away toward the boarding ramp while Janna carefully inched the speeder bike forward until she was even with the space where the next piece of patch would be mounted.

On the first day of repairs, she and Tom had carefully constructed a lattice of durasteel to help brace and support the exterior patchwork of plating. They'd used Marco's lightsaber to slice up a piece of hull plate into long boards, which were then welded vertically to the backside of the existing hull and then horizontally to brace and strengthen them. The hull plating had to be cut to the right size in order to line up each patch properly with the lattice so that there would be material to weld to and ensure no weak spots.

Janna removed her measuring device from her pocket, a small handheld electronic laser which she held up and activated. Two tiny lasers mounted to the device on swivels measured the exact dimensions for the next piece of hull patch and recorded them. Satisfied, Janna returned the device to her pocket and lowered the bike carefully to the ground.

They had neatly stacked their salvaged hull plating just beside the ship. Janna judged that the piece on top was just about the right size. It was a good thing because the piece was so heavy that, without Star to move it with the Force, Janna couldn't exactly get to the pieces underneath. Holding up her measuring device again, the lasers measured the sheet of plating and confirmed her assumption to be correct. It would only require slight trimming. Janna clicked a button with her thumb and the device remained floating in the air when she let go of it, projecting its lasers to provide her with guidelines by which to cut.

Marco's lightsaber still hung from her belt. The green blade ignited when she pressed the activation plate, and Janna slowly and carefully guided the blade through two straight, clean cuts. The excess plating that she cut off fell away into the sand.

The sun was sinking low and there wasn't much light remaining to see by. The emerald glow of the lightsaber was beginning to rival what sunlight remained.

"I guess that's enough for today," Janna said to herself. "Tomorrow is another day." She started to walk away toward the boarding ramp, but didn't even take a full step. Her eyes landed on a piece of the hull plate she had just sliced off. It was about eleven centimeters wide.

Instantaneous inspiration struck.

Quickly, Janna chopped the piece down into a more easily manipulated length, about a meter long. She laid it in the sand and placed her foot next to it for comparison, her heel lined up with the edge of the durasteel. A careful slice was made just past the toe of her boot.

The durasteel plate was thick, too thick for her intentions. She flipped the piece on end and carefully cut the piece in half lengthwise to skinny it up, leaving her with a piece of durasteel about eleven centimeters wide by twenty-three long, and about two centimeters thick.

_That will probably work. But how long for the other piece? _

_I'll have to take a measurement..._

* * *

Star crept into Tom's cabin as quietly as she could, closing the door behind her. Marco was out-cold on the bunk, his mouth hanging half-open as his head lolled to the side on the pillow. There likely was not another being in the galaxy who would think Marco looked adorable at the exact moment, but Star Butterfly was not most people.

"So cute!" she whispered. She gently rubbed his arm. "Marcoooooo..."

Marco slowly opened his eyes, his mouth curling into a gentle smile as he saw his best friend standing over him. "Hey, Star."

Her hand drifted up from his arm and she affectionately ran her fingers through his dark hair. "How you feeling?"

He shifted his head to move it into a less awkward position and winced. His neck was incredibly stiff from the awkward position he had been sleeping in. "Well, my neck really hurts."

Star giggled. "I bet it does. How about the rest of you?"

"I am feeling like I'm getting some of my strength back a little."_  
_

_"_Oh! Well, that's good!"

"Yeah. How are the repairs going?"

"Pretty well! We've already got the hole about half closed up."

"Awesome! At this rate we should be outta here by- Janna! What the heck are you doing?!"

Star turned her head just slightly to the right and was shocked to see Janna standing beside her holding a small device in her hand over the bunk. "Ohmygosh, Janna! How did you even get in here without us hearing you?!"

"And what are you doing to me?!" Marco demanded again as he noticed a pair of lasers sprouting from the device in Captain Ordonia's hand jumping over his remaining right leg.

"I'm not doing anything," she replied, her eyes never deviating from the tiny screen on the measuring device. "Just ignore me. Pretend I'm not even here." Before the pair of Padawans had a chance to say anything else, the device chimed and the lasers blinked off. Janna immediately returned it to her pocket and turned on her heel, strolling out of the cabin. "As you were."

The door slid closed behind her with a _whoosh._

"Wait, that door makes noise," Marco said. "How did she open the door and walk up right next to you without either of us noticing? Is...is Janna a ghost?"

Star was still staring at the door. "Maybe we're better off not knowing."

* * *

Janna made another cut with the lightsaber and then held the pieces together in the orientation she wished to attach them. Satisfied, she returned the lightsaber to her belt and reached for her arc welder and mask.

When she had finished, she brought the speeder bike, tools, and her creation inside the _Raventalon_ for the night.

_Alright, so far so good. Now to see how good I am at medical improvisation._

Her shipmates seemed to have all turned in for the night, though Janna did see PY-HD heading to the cockpit for a scheduled scanner check. She made a brief detour to the ship's tiny machine shop to utilize the lathe, make some final adjustments and clean up some sharp edges before grabbing the medical kit and heading for Tom's cabin.

Marco was sound asleep on the bunk with Star cuddled up next to him, her head nestled into the side of his neck, her eyes closed as well.

Janna smiled to herself mischievously. _Here we go..._

* * *

_Raventalon _Hull Repair, Day 4_  
_

Marco awoke lying facedown on his stomach, having rolled over at some point during the night. He could feel a weight on his back and his upper arms were pinned at his sides, which he assumed was likely Star.

He was correct, as his best friend had somehow ended up half on top of him during the night, hugging him tightly in her sleep as she nuzzled her cheek into the space between his shoulders.

There was no reason for Marco to complain. He had dreamed of waking up cuddling with Star ever since he had realized he was in love with her, and it was certainly living up to his expectations. It was very cozy and gave him a sense of security that he'd never previously experienced. Marco reckoned he could lay there like that with Star forever.

If, of course, he didn't desperately need to use the refresher.

"Star?" he whispered, trying to wriggle himself free from her grasp. "Star?"

"Guzzz...mmnahh..." she moaned. "A year's supply of free burritos?...Oh, how generous of you, Mrs. Britta...I don't need the punch card, just give them to me all at once..."

"Star!" Marco laughed, bucking himself upward to try to shake her off.

"Zzz-Huh? What?!" Star gasped as she was knocked off her human pillow.

"Wake up, dummy! You're dreaming!" Marco chuckled.

Star threw her arms around him again as he tried to roll over. "Five more minutes," she sleepily insisted, refusing to open her eyes.

"Star, I gotta get up! I really gotta go to the 'fresher!"

Immediately, she released him. "Oh! Sorry! Let me help you up."

Marco sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bunk.

And froze.

"Star."

She was sitting up behind him, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah?" She yawned.

"I have a left leg."

"...Congratulations?"

"Star."

Marco's words finally registered and Star snapped awake. "Wait, what?!" She quickly slid around him off of the bunk to see for herself. Sure enough, Marco had a left leg. There was no skin, but a tube of durasteel welded to a piece of flat hull plate had miraculously attached itself to what remained of Marco's left leg. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-?"

"How-? Where did-! ...what is this?!" Marco yelped, running his hand over the joint just below his knee where his leg transitioned from flesh to metal.

"You're welcome," came a voice from the doorway.

Once again, both Padawans were shocked to see Janna leaning nonchalantly in the open doorway to the cabin. "Janna!" they chorused.

"How do you keep sneaking in here like that?!" Star cried.

Janna held her hands up as if to convey that she had no idea. Then she asked, "So how'd I do, Marco?"

"How'd you...?" Marco looked down at the prosthetic attached to his leg. "You made this?"

"Sure did."

Star raised an eyebrow. "And then snuck in here...in the middle of the night...to put it on him?"

"Mhm."

"...Why didn't you just wait until I woke up?"

Janna smiled wickedly. "Dude, if you knew how I attached it, you'd be glad you were asleep when I put it on. Well, what are you waiting for? Try it out!"

Marco was hesitant. "Uhh...Star? Maybe...?" He lifted his left arm slightly and she understood.

"Oh! I gotcha, Marco!" She came over and sat down on his left side, and they laced their arms across each other's shoulders. "Ready?"

"Ready. Just...slow."

Carefully, Star stood and helped Marco up. When he was fully erect, she relaxed her support on him, only barely still touching his back to be in position to catch him if he fell. "You okay?"

"Yeah...I...I think so. I'm...I'm standing!" He finally said excitedly.

"Walking might be a little awkward because there's no ankle joint," Janna warned. "It's very low-tech. It's so low-tech that it's no-tech."

Star snickered.

"What?" Marco asked.

"'So low-tech it's no-tech.' Classic! C'mon, let's try taking a couple steps."

Marco started with his right foot, then very carefully moved his new left one. Being that it was made of durasteel hull plating, the prosthetic had some significant weight to it. It would have been little more than a nuisance if Marco was at full strength, but he was still recovering and it took him a decent amount of effort to lift and move his left leg. That, plus the fact that this was the very first step he had ever taken with his leg in this configuration, and being unable to feel what the leg was doing, the metal foot came down hard and fast with a metallic clang, throwing Marco off-balance.

"Whoa-!"

Star intervened and kept Marco upright. "I gotcha!" She steered him toward the door. "Keep going! You got this!"

On the next step, Marco was more prepared for the weight of the metal leg and controlled it's decent. He still needed Star to help him stay upright, but he wasn't thrown off quite as badly. The next step went a little bit better, as did the next after that, each step punctuated by the clank of metal on metal. Janna watched the two Jedi working together with interest, but remained silent. Before Marco knew it, he was out of the cabin and the short way down the corridor to the refresher, standing outside the open door.

"You, uh, okay by yourself?" Star asked.

"I think so."

They slowly unlaced their arms from each other and, for the first time in over a week, Marco stood on his own. He timidly took a small step forward, stumbling slightly, but he managed to catch himself. His next step went a bit more smoothly, and he stepped through the door. He turned back to look at Star and Janna. His best friend gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. Janna just made a rude noise with her tongue.

Marco couldn't help but smile."Um...thank you, Janna. This is...really, really cool of you."

"You owe me at least six now," she said with a completely straight face. Then she grinned. "You're welcome, Marco."

Marco closed the door to the refresher for some privacy. At the very same instant, the door to Janna's cabin opened and Tom stumbled out.

"What the heck is all that racket out here?" he asked with a yawn.

Star and Janna looked at each other and laughed, only just now realizing how much noise Marco's new leg made.

Their laughter greatly confused Tom. "Uh...what's so funny?"

"'All that racket' was Marco," Star giggled.

"...Doing what?"

"You'll see soon enough," Janna said, placing her arm around her copilot and steering him in the other direction before he had a chance to say anything further. "C'mon. Let's go get some breakfast."

Star followed them as they headed for the galley. A moment later, the door to the refresher opened, and Marco took a slow step out.

"Ah, that's better. Did I hear someone mention breakfaAA- oof!" Marco yelped as he finally did fall over and unceremoniously crashed to the deck. "Ow." He tried to pull himself back to his feet, but lacking the ability to bend his left ankle, he was trying to push himself up by the sharp front corner of the flat durasteel foot and it slipped out from under him. He hit the deck a second time. "Crud. Star?" He called. "Janna? I could really use a hand here!"

He tried to push himself up a second time, and crashed down for a third. "Guys?"

* * *

_Raventalon _Hull Repair, Day 7

Tom was in the cockpit cycling the shields to make sure the generator did not seize up from lack of use when PY-HD rolled into the cockpit.

"Hey, Pony. You know you don't have to come up here for scanner checks if I'm in here."

The droid bleeped dryly.

"Okay. That's hurtful," Tom said with a frown.

PY-HD moved behind Tom and nudged its dome into his backside.

"What?"

The astromech did not respond, but instead continued ushering Tom toward the port side of the cockpit.

"Pony! What do you want from me?" Tom yelped as the droid nearly knocked him over. "Use your words! Er, beeps!" One last shove did manage to knock Tom forward and he crashed into the navicomputer. "Ow! Pony!" he growled. "What's gotten into you?"

Keeping the first mate cornered so that he couldn't get away, PY-HD ejected something from a slot on the front of its body. Tom hesitantly reached out and took it. His eyes widened. "Is...is this the circuit board from the navicomputer?"

The droid bleeped an annoyed affirmative.

"Pony, this is amazing!"

Condescending noises replied.

"You're so humble," Tom said sarcastically. But he couldn't remain upset with the droid for long. "Come on! Let's get this thing put back together! I think they're almost finished with the hull repairs, they'll be so excited to know that we can officially get off this rock!"

That was certainly something PY-HD could agree with.

* * *

"Alright, Star. This is the last one," Janna announced. "Ready?"

"I was born ready!" Star replied excitedly. "Ready to get off this stupid planet, that is!"

Marco, who had been pacing back and forth nearby to practice walking with his new leg, came over to observe. He couldn't move very quickly and his steps were uneven, but he was growing used to the prosthetic and every step he took was made with more confidence than the last. "This is it?" he asked, pointing to the precisely cut piece of hull plating that lay on the ground in front of Star.

"Sure is," Janna said as she climbed back onto the jump speeder for the fourth time that day. She strapped her welding mask to her head, the visor flipped up so that she could see. "Last piece, and then some welding inside to make sure it's all sealed, and we'll pretty much be set to go."

"Sweet!"

Janna coaxed the speeder bike slowly into the air, hovering beside the_Raventalon_. The last gap in the hull had shrunken down to a gap of just about three meters square, and Janna positioned herself strategically beside the hole. "Okay, Star, I'm ready when you are," she called down.

"I'm on it, Janna! Here it comes!"

Marco watched as Star raised her arms and the square panel of durasteel hull plate floated slowly off the ground. It turned vertically on end as it rose and Star carefully guided it to the ship's side, positioning it just in front of the hole.

"How's that?"

Janna inched the speeder forward, craning her neck to see the alignment of the edge. "Just a tiny bit to the left."

Star twitched her pinky in the air and the plate shifted ever so slightly. "How's that?"

"Perfect! Let me check the top." Janna twisted the height control and the bike slowly floated higher until it was level with the top end of the patch. "Right on!" she yelled. "Hold it right there!" She twisted around and grabbed the torch of the welder strapped to the seat behind her and a filler stick, flipped down her face shield, and quickly set to work. Starting from the top right corner, she welded about halfway down and then stopped, switching over to the opposite top corner and repeating the run.

"Okay, Star! You can let go now!"

With the last piece of the patch secured enough not to fall off, Star let her arms fall to her sides and broke her concentration. "Whew!" she gasped, leaning over to rest. "That sure takes a lot out of me. Glad that was the last one."

Marco gently put an arm around her and Star happily rested her head on his shoulder, contentedly closing her eyes. "You did a great job, uh..." In the second that he paused, Marco made a decision. Instead of calling Star by her name, he was going to try something different. "...girlfriend."

Star's eyes snapped back open. "Uhhhhhhh...no."

Marco's heart sank. "Oh..." He let his arm fall from around her back and shifted away. _I guess she changed her mind. _His mind whirled, desperately searching for an explanation.

Star caught the dejected look on his face and realized what he was thinking. "Oh! No no no no no! Marco! I didn't mean it like that!"

Marco blinked. "I'm confused."

Star took both of his hands in hers and gave him a reassuring smile. "Marco, I love you! Really! But...girlfriend? Boyfriend? It just feels...wrong."

Marco sighed. "I actually have to admit, when I said it, it felt weird in my mouth."

Star giggled. "Marco, you're my best friend in the galaxy. _Nothing_ will ever change that, not even, you know, mutually shared romantic feelings." Her bright blue eyes stared deep in Marco's brown ones. "Who needs to be boyfriend and girlfriend when you're _best _friends? We just happen to be best friends who like snuggling and...making out."

It was Marco's turn to laugh. "So...we're just best friends in love?"

Star nodded happily. "Mhm! Exactly!"

His mouth curled upward into a grin. "I like that."

"It fits better." And she quickly wrapped her best friend in a hug, which Marco enthusiastically returned.

"We're still, like, committed to each other, though, right?" Marco asked.

"Um, duh."

"Heh. Just checking."

They closed their eyes as they melted into the tight embrace, Marco idly stroking Star's lustrous blonde hair.

"I love you, Best Friend," Marco whispered.

Star sighed happily. "Now that feels right."

"It definitely does."

"I love you, too, Bestie."

"You guys are gonna make me throw up."

Yet again, the two Padawans jumped as Janna startled them, the _Raventalon_'s captain standing right behind them. They broke apart in embarrassment.

"Gosh, Janna!" Star gasped. "How long have you been standing there?"

Janna shook her head and folded her arms. "Far too long for you to not have noticed me."

"Hey, guys!"

All three looked toward the sound of the voice and saw Tom running down the ship's boarding ramp with PY-HD right behind him. As he drew closer, they could see that he appeared to be very excited.

"Guys! Pony fixed the navicomputer!"

Janna, Star and Marco exchanged delighted expressions, each too surprised and elated for words. Finally, their departure from Moraband was within reach.

* * *

The navicomputer's screen blinked to life, the whirring of the internal processor just barely audible in the silence of the cockpit. Star, Marco, Janna and Tom watched as the readout flickered and changed while PY-HD, plugged into the console beside it, altered various settings and the navicomputer responded as expected.

"Pony, I never doubted you for a second," Janna said. "But even so, I almost can't believe we actually have a functioning navicomputer!"

"I'm just relieved we won't have to guess our route to wherever we go next," Tom said.

"Well, since we've still got a couple hours of work left to do on the hull, and now that we have our full operating system online again, do you think you could run some diagnostic tests and make sure everything is working properly, Pony?"

The astromech responded with exhausted sounding bleeps.

"You're a droid, you don't get tired," Janna reminded it. "Please, Pony?"

Reluctant twitters came from the astromech.

"Thank you, Pony." Janna patted the droid's dome. "You're the best." She turned back to the others. "C'mon, gang, we're almost done. Let's get back to it!"

* * *

It took a few hours for Janna to finish welding all the seems of the hull patch from the inside, and by the time everything was complete, the sun was setting and she was worn out.

"Let's have some dinner and get some sleep," she said, "I'm too exhausted for flying right now."

"No argument here," Star agreed. "I'm starving!"

"When aren't you?" Tom laughed.

"Never," answered Marco simply, and everyone chuckled again, joking about Star's appetite becoming a favorite running joke among the group.

On their way to the galley, PY-HD popped out of the cockpit, whistling and bleeping urgently.

"Pony? What's wrong?" Tom asked.

The astromech beckoned for them to follow her.

Janna said to Star and Marco, "Why don't you two get the food out? We'll meet you in there in a few minutes."

"We're on it!" Star exclaimed, taking Marco by the hand and dragging him down the corridor.

* * *

Star and Marco were just sitting down at the galley table when Janna, Tom, and PY-HD rendezvoused with them. Captain Ordonia wore a scowl on her face.

"What's wrong?" Star asked.

"According to Pony Head's tests, the backup hyperdrive is probably only going to last one more jump," Janna groaned, sinking into her seat opposite the two Padawans.

"What?!"

"And when I say 'last one more jump,' what I really mean is 'we have about a fifty-fifty chance of it actually working,' and the flip side of that credit chip is that, if it doesn't work, then it..." Janna flourished her hands. "...blows up."

Star and Marco exchanged a nervous glance.

Tom leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. "We'd never actually used the backup drive until we used it for our slingshot back on Coruscant. Apparently the windings inside hyperdrives don't like not being used. They get brittle. Then we overstressed them doing our slingshot and, long story short, they're pretty much on the verge of disintegrating.

"Man!" Star exclaimed. "We sure are learning a lot about starship operations on this adventure, huh?"

"Yes, yes we are," Marco replied.

"So what do we do then?" Star asked.

Janna shrugged. "What choice do we have? It's not like we can repair it. All we can do is try it and hope for the best. Or we just stay here on Moraband forever. Well, until our supplies run out, and then we can fight over who gets to eat who."

"I wouldn't eat anybody," Tom said indignantly.

"That's fine, 'cause we're eating you first," Janna shot back.

Star and Marco shared another look. Marco didn't even need Star to speak to know what she was thinking just based on her expression.

"We'll risk death by hyperdrive explosion," he said. "At least that's instant, as opposed to slowly starving to death."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Janna.

Putting aside their ever-expanding troubles for the moment, the gang gathered around the table for another meal of supply bars and caf with greatly varying amounts of sugar.

"So," Marco began, still chewing on his supply bar, "if it does work, and we only have one hyperspace jump to work with, where do we go from here?"

Janna leaned back in her chair, clutching her cup of caf with both hands. "We need to go somewhere where we can get a replacement main and backup hyperdrives. Unfortunately, this ship being as old as it is, newer hyperdrives aren't compatible without major modifications. We need direct replacements, which will not be easy to come by."

"Where's our best bet, then?" Star asked, her words barely distinguishable through a huge mouthful of food.

Janna sighed. "There's only one place I know for sure will have the drives. You guys are not gonna like it, but since we're probably only gonna get one jump, we don't really have a choice."

Tom winced. "Oh, please don't tell me we have to go-"

"Yeah. There."

"Where's 'there'?" Star asked, apprehension on her voice.

"Corellia."

PY-HD squealed with displeasure.

"Oh, sure!" Marco exclaimed. "Why not? Let's just turn around and head right back to the core worlds! I'm sure it won't be just crawling with Imperial forces!"

"Yeah, and didn't you say this ship was 'marked' now?" Star continued. "Won't they, like, immediately know it's us?"

"Probably. But what other choice do we have?" Janna leaned back in her chair. "I can't afford to, nor do I have any intention of, purchasing another ship, and wherever we go next, we'll be one hundred percent stuck unless we can fully repair the _Raventalon._"

"Isn't there anywhere else we could get parts? What about, like, Tatooine?" Tom suggested. "They've got parts traders there. Or Jakku?"

"Why does everyone always want to go back to that junkyard?" Star muttered under her breath.

Janna scoffed. "Only if we want to pay double what the hyperdrives are worth and then find out once they're installed that they don't work." She took a long drink from her cup, draining it and then slamming it down on the table. "Face it. Our only real choice is to go to Corellia."

"We should go to Mewni."

Everyone fell silent in surprise at Star's suggestion.

"Your homeworld?" Janna asked. "Don't you think the Empire will be looking for you there?"

"Well, we've been really off-the-grid for a couple weeks now, maybe more. I honestly have completely lost track of time."

PY-HD bleeped out the date.

"Yeah, see? We've been gone a long time. The Empire definitely, like definitely, has no idea where we are. If they're searching for us, I'm sure they already checked Mewni and figured out that we weren't there a long time ago."

"Okay, but still," Janna pressed. "Last time I checked, Mewni doesn't build ships or have major salvage yards."

"True, but you know what it does have? The King and Queen of Mewni, who just so happen to be my parents."

"Oh, yeah," Tom said through his last mouthful of supply bar. "I'm so used to thinking of you as a Jedi I forget sometimes that you're also a Princess."

A giggle from Marco beside her caught Star's attention. "Why are you a little giggly boy over there?" she asked.

A giddy smile was plastered on Marco's face. "I've kissed a Princess."

"I forgot about that, too," Tom said. "How's that going?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Marco replied simply.

"Huh?"

"Can we let Star get back to her explanation, please?" Janna begged. And she motioned for Star to go on.

The Padawan shook her head. "Let me start over. We need to go to Corellia to get parts to properly fix the _Raventalon. _Marco and I can't go because we're Jedi. Just like Marco said, the planet is probably crawling with Imperial troops and we'll be discovered for sure, and the _Raventalon_ can't go because it will be recognized by the Empire as the ship that helped two Jedi escape, right?"

"Right," Janna and Tom unintentionally answered at exactly the same time. They briefly glared at each other.

"And Marco also needs a real cybernetic prosthetic so he can walk properly."

Marco looked down at his metal leg under the table. "Aw, but Janna made this for me. And I'm getting good at walking on it."

"What if you need to, I don't know, _run_? Or fight?"

Marco blinked and thought for a moment. "Sorry, Janna, I'm gonna need a cybernetic prosthetic."

Janna shrugged. "Eh. I figured you would eventually."

Star went on. "Soooo, if we go to Mewni, my parents will have a ship you guys can borrow to go to Corellia and get whatever you need to fix the _Raventalon_ while Marco gets a new leg. Mewni has...uh, you know...decent medical care?"

"Oh, that makes me feel good," Marco said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, wait, won't Janna and Tom get recognized on Corellia?"

Janna waved the question away dismissively. "Nah. They only saw the ship, not the ones flying it. Besides, the _Raventalon _is registered under a fake name. Another smuggling precaution."

"I didn't know this ship was registered under a fake name," Tom said. "What name is it registered to?"

"Lucy Lucille Lucitor."

"...You used the nickname you call me that I hate...which is derived from my last name...and my actual last name?"

"Yup. And I put 'Lucille' in the middle."

"...Why?"

"Because I thought it sounded funny. Anyway, you make a tough argument, Star."

"Why, thank you!"

"So...I guess that settles it, then." Janna stood up from the table. "After breakfast tomorrow, we'll plot a course for the Mewni System."

"And we hopefully don't blow up," Tom reminded her.

"Yes. Hopefully."

"Sounds good to me," Marco agreed. "I'm just excited to get off this planet, no matter where we're going."

Janna nodded. "Let's all get some sleep, then."

"Right behind you," Tom said. He chugged down the rest of his caf and then followed Janna out of the galley. "Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight!" Marco called. He looked at Star, who had abruptly fallen silent, her expression blank. "Star? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine."

Marco put his arm around her. "Is there something on your mind?"

"I was just thinking...I'm sure Aunt Eclipsa told my parents about Order 66." She gave a chuckle. "My parents probably think I'm dead."

"Oh, yeah. They'll be really happy to see you when we show up, then..." It was Marco's turn to fall silent. "My parents probably think I'm dead, too."

Star looked at Marco quizzically. "Do you even know where your parents are?"

Marco shook his head sadly. "I don't even know my parents' names. I was taken to the Jedi Temple when I was so little...I can't remember what they look like. At least you, being a princess and all, were allowed to go home periodically for all the...you know...traditional princess-y stuff, and your Aunt would let you chat with your folks on her holo viewer, so you actually have a family." Marco shrugged. "I don't even know how to get in touch with my parents to let them know I'm alright."

Star shook her head in disgust. "Dumb Jedi rules." She looked at Marco beside her. He looked positively dejected. "You know...the last time I went home, three years ago, I told my parents all about you. They said you sounded great, and that they hoped they'd get to meet you someday." She smiled at him. "They're gonna love you like Aunt Eclipsa already does." She gave his hand a squeeze. "You can be part of our family."

Marco's mouth curled into a little smile. "Thanks, Star."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Come on. Let's get some rest."

* * *

That night, as Janna slept soundly in her quarters and Tom fitfully tossed and turned beside her, Star and Marco snuggled into the bunk in Tom's cabin as they had become accustomed to doing, both finding sleep elusive as they lay staring at the ceiling side-by-side.

"Marco, are you awake?"

"Yeah...I can't sleep."

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"Oh, you know, just about how...after all of this, everything we've been through since I came to your room that night in the Jedi Temple, tomorrow there's a good chance that we might just...get blown up. By something completely out of our control."

"Yeah, that does make it kinda hard to sleep, huh?"

Marco sighed. "Yup."

A few moments of silence passed.

"If we do get blown up tomorrow," Star asked slowly, "would you, you know, have any regrets?"

"Probably just that I didn't try a little harder to kill Palpatine when we were in his office. And that I didn't confess my feelings for you sooner."

Star rolled over onto her side so that she could see Marco's face in the dark. "Well, Master Fisto didn't really give us much choice in the matter and I doubt we could have beaten a Sith Lord, anyway. And, yeah...I wish I had told you sooner, too. I'd give anything just to have a few days alone with you, days _not_ spent repairing the ship, before..." Star didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.

"I'd give my left leg to have more time with you. Oh, wait," Marco deadpanned jokingly.

Star laughed, but when her laughter faded she was left feeling depressed. "Oh, Marco..." She buried her face into his side, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Why couldn't we have had more time?"

Marco gently hugged her back. For several minutes, they lay together silently embracing in the dark.

"We've still got hours until morning," Marco whispered. "Do you think you'll be able to get any sleep at all?"

"No..." said Star with a sigh.

"Me neither." He paused. "You wanna make out until the sun comes up?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

"Here we go. Let's hope that backup hyperdrive holds together for one last jump and doesn't blow us all to pieces."

Tom glanced over at Janna, expecting her to have some kind of snappy comeback to his statement, but she remained stoic. In all the time he had known her, he didn't think he had ever seen her flip activation switches so slowly and methodically.

Janna could shrug off just about anything. Nothing ever really bothered her, and she pretty much never flinched in the face of danger. Even last night, she had been more annoyed at the prospect of the hyperdrive malfunctioning than at the chance that they could instantly die. But now, moments away from attempting the hyperspace jump, she could not ignore the reality of the situation any longer.

"Alright, Pony Head," Tom went on, swiveling halfway around in order to see the astromech droid. "Chart us a course to the Mewni System and prep the backup hyperdrive."

PY-HD whistled a reply and began rapidly rotating its interface socket in the computer terminal.

Beside the droid and behind the pilots, Star and Marco were strapped in. They said nothing, nor did they look at each other. Instead, they stared straight ahead at the distant stars twinkling in the forward viewscreen as Janna and Tom prepared the ship to jump to hyperspace. Between them, their hands were joined, fingers intertwined.

PY-HD twittered that the navicomputer was ready.

"All systems are green," Tom said slowly. He looked over at Janna again. "Whenever you're ready, Captain."

Janna slowly moved her right hand off of her control yoke and placed it on top of the hyperdrive lever on her side of the control panel. Tom mirrored her action.

"Well, everybody...see you on the other side. May-" She swallowed back a twinge of emotion in her throat. "May the Force be with us...or whatever."

She nodded at Tom. He nodded back. Together, they slowly slid the hyperdrive levers forward.

"I love you, Star," Marco whispered, squeezing her hand.

"I love you, Marco."

Outside the viewscreen, the stars stretched into streaks.

"Please don't blow up!" Janna yelled.

The _Raventalon_ disappeared from Moraband space.

**Star Wars discussion:**

**Let's talk about the Republic becoming the Empire. Part of the reason why I had our group of main characters get**

**A. Lost in space and then**

**B. Stranded on Moraband**

**For ten whole chapters and an unspecified amount of time is that I needed to give the Republic Army time to become the Imperial Army. Obviously, TIE fighters and Star Destroyers don't just materialize overnight. Until all the new equipment can be manufactured, the Empire is still going to be using Clone troopers and ARC-170's and such. I didn't really know how long it would take for everything to convert over, but it would seem weird to have clones and Republic Army equipment being used alongside...you know...Darth Vader, so I thought "Why don't I just have them get stranded completely out of contact with the rest of the galaxy for a while? That'll give the Empire enough time to convert over to the actual Imperial stuff."**

**Explanation over.**


	21. Star Comes Home

**I'm not good at inventing names, especially Star Wars names, so all of the Imperial Officers in this chapter are the last names of some of my coworkers whose last names seemed like they would fit into Star Wars, including one who lets me talk his ear off about SVTFOE and actually watched the show so that he could read this story. I thought that warranted inclusion as a character. (Hi, José!)**

**Anyway, this is the longest chapter yet and I was really happy with how it came out, so I hope you enjoy it!**

"So what you're telling me is that, after all this time, none of you have any leads whatsoever?"

The three Imperial officers shifted nervously, each thankful to be on the other end of their individual holotransmission and not in the same room as the person they were speaking to. The inquisitor spoke to them without the slightest twinge of emotion in its electronically-altered voice, and the helmet on its head kept facial expressions hidden. They had no idea how the inquisitor was going to react.

_"Um, as I said, Inquisitor,"_ began Commander Emond, _"we were able to identify the YV-model freighter as a suspected smuggling vessel and have been checking known smugglers' hideouts and spaceports in areas where trafficking of illegal goods is known to take place."_

_"But, sir," _continued Security Officer Rosado, _"we've turned up empty-handed everywhere we've checked so far. We still have a few more places to look, though."_

The inquisitor was not impressed. "If it's a suspected smuggler's ship, then there are records on it. Who does it belong to?"

_"The ship came up as being a YV-560 light freighter registered to one Lucy Lucille Lucitor," _Captain Rowell answered.

Security Officer Rosado crossed his arms. _"Sounds like a fake name, if you ask me,"_he interjected. _  
_

Rowell continued. _"I did run the name through all the old Republic records and found nothing, so that's probably true. Anyway, the ship and it's owner, whoever they are, have never actually been caught smuggling or breaking the law in any fashion, which is why we don't really have any information on it. We've already checked every place on record that it's been sighted, but-"_

"What about Mewni? And Butterfly's parents?"

_"I questioned the King and Queen about their daughter's whereabouts, sir. They said they had presumed she was dead when they heard about Order 66 as they had not been in contact with her at all,"_Emond explained. _"Their comm records confirm that they were telling the truth. As you know, we left a surveillance ship there when we left the system, but it hasn't picked up that YV-model freighter."_

"And Diaz's family?"

_"I was unable to locate them," _said Rowell. _"The Jedi records show that Padawan Marco Diaz was originally from Dantooine, but the locals we interrogated there said his family left the planet some time ago and didn't tell anyone where they were going." _

"...So we have nothing."

The three holographic men looked at each other nervously.

_"Not yet,"_ Emond said, trying to sound confident. _"But we're still-"_

The inquisitor ended the transmission and all three holograms disappeared, growling in annoyance. The looming presence that had been watching the holographic conversation from the corner took a few steps closer. The inquisitor did not turn to face him.

"The Emperor is expecting me to give him an update," Darth Vader said. "I do not wish to disappoint him with nothing but bad news."

"How can the news be bad if there is no news to give?" the inquisitor countered, not intimidated by the Sith Lord.

"Because he expects _results_."

Finally spinning around, the inquisitor threw up its arms in frustration. "What else am I supposed to do? I can't track a ship through light speed. The clone pilot that was leading the pursuit of that ship as it fled Coruscant said he's certain his missile impacted the freighter right as it jumped, so it could have blown up while in hyperspace and we'd never know. How else could they have disappeared so completely?"

Vader did not accept that as an answer. "The Emperor has instructed me to inform you that you will remain tasked with hunting down Padawan Butterfly and Padawan Diaz until they have been destroyed or until you can prove that they are already dead."

"And if they are already dead, how am I supposed to prove that?"

"That is not any of my concern. What is of my concern is the resources you have been using."

"Resources?"

"The Emperor granted you significant resources for the purpose of tracking down the two Padawans, but his priorities have changed. Since you have made no progress in locating them, the ships and crews under your command are being recalled immediately and reassigned to more pressing matters."

Beneath the mask, the inquisitor scowled at Vader, who went on.

"You may keep Security Officer Rosado and his squadron, but the surveillance ship orbiting Mewni and all of Commander Emond and Captain Rowell's ships will return to Imperial Center for refitting and reassignment."

The inquisitor fumed, but did not express the anger toward Vader. "Fine. Who needs them? I'll find those two twerps myself."

Vader pointed a finger at his compatriot. "You had better. The Emperor does not look kindly upon failure." And without another word, he stalked quickly out of the room.

Vader had other matters to attend.

* * *

Captain Matonti sat at the helm of his MRX-BR Pacifier, the _Interceptor, _with his feet kicked up on the control panel, his nose buried in a holobook. He and his crew of two were bored. They had been in orbit above Mewni for weeks on the lookout for a YV-560 light freighter carrying two fugitive Jedi and hadn't seen a single interesting thing. Mewni did not have much space traffic. While it wasn't a world that was exceptionally rich with natural resources, which would have immediately attracted the interest of the Empire, it was mostly self-sustaining and did not require frequent supply shipments. A cargo ship came twice a week carrying off-world goods to an importer and they'd occasionally spot small pleasure craft, but that was it.

In fact, the captain estimated that they be seeing that cargo ship in the next hour. It adhered to a very regular timetable.

"Excuse me, Captain." The comms operator spoke up from her station.

Matonti did not even look away from his holobook. "Yes, Hultch?"

"There's an incoming transmission from Commander Emond."

Matonti tossed aside his holobook and swung his feet down to the floor. "Oh, good! Maybe he's calling to tell us we can get out of this dumb system. Put it through."

Hultch pressed a few keys and the small holoprojector on the control panel lit up, a six-inch tall Commander Emond floating just above the projector. _"Captain. How goes the surveillance?"_

"It's going. Not much to report, sir, there's hardly any space traffic in this system and we haven't seen that YV."

_"I suspected as much. Well, we're being reassigned. Return to Coruscant immediately."_

"Yes, sir. Right away." Matonti turned around to look at Hultch and waved his hand across his neck. She understood and cut the transmission. The second the holoprojector went dark, Captain Matonti leapt up. "Yes! We're getting out of here! Finally!"

"Sir?" called the radar technician. "There's a ship coming out of hyperspace."

"So what?"

"So...shouldn't we be checking it out, sir?"

"It's just that same cargo ship we always see. He's a little ahead of schedule today." Matonti was already flipping switches and programming the navicomputer with the coordinates for their destination. "Besides, we've already be reassigned, it's not our business anymore."

"If you say so, sir."

Matonti grabbed the hyperdrive control lever. "Alright, let's get out of here!"

And the _Interceptor _jumped to lightspeed.

Approximately two and three-quarters seconds after the Imperial shipvacated the system, the _Raventalon _dropped out of hyperspace.

* * *

The swirling colors of hyperspace outside of the _Raventalon_'s viewport shifted back into streaks, and the streaks shrank back into stars. Janna breathed a sigh of relief.

"Woo! We're not dead!" Marco yelled, pumping both fists in the air.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, an alarm started blaring and a red warning light lit up the cockpit. PY-HD squealed and Tom quickly looked at his terminal readout. "Welp, the backup hyperdrive is on fire," he said, remaining relatively calm while Star and Marco froze in fear behind him.

Janna barely reacted either, flipping switches to kill power to the hyperdrive. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Pony, fire suppressors, please."

The droid twittered that it was already on it, and a moment later the alarm ceased as the compartment that housed the hyperdrives filled with fire-choking gas.

"And that takes care of the fire," Tom announced. "Good work, Pony." He flipped his monitor to a different screen. "Not picking up any ships on the scope, so I guess that means the Empire isn't here waiting for us." Ahead in the distance directly out the viewscreen was planet Mewni. Tom turned around to face his Jedi friends. "Welcome home, Star."

"Home..." Star's mouth curled into a small, nervous smile. "For a while there I thought I'd never see this place again."

The _Raventalon _had dropped out of hyperspace quite a distance away from the planet, and the gang rode in silence as the ship erased the distance.

When Mewni had nearly filled the entire viewscreen, PY-HD bleeped again.

"Incoming transmission from the planet's surface," Tom announced.

Janna nodded. "Put it through, Pony."

The holoprojector illuminated and a hulking male Mewman with a large scar on both sides of his face in military regalia appeared. "_Attention unidentified space craft. This is Corporal Scarsgaurd of the Mewni Militia. Please identify yourself."_

"This is Captain Janna Ordonia of the freighter _Raventalon._ We request permission to land, please."

_"This planet is currently on lockdown to all ships not already possessing a clearance code. Your request to land is denied."_

Star got out of her seat and crouched down beside Janna. "I'll take care of this, Janna. Hi, Scarsgaurd!"

The Corporal's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. _"Princess Butterfly?! You're alive?! What are you-"_

_"Star?! Star Butterfly?! Out of way, Scarsgaurd!" _Scarsgaurd was shoved out of the holoprojection and replaced by an equally hulking giant green amphibian who was smiling ear-to-ear. _"Star Butterfly!"_

"Buff Frog!" Star greeted excitedly.

_"I am not believing my own eyes! I am so happy to be seeing that you are not dead!"_

Star giggled. "It's good to see you, too, Buff Frog. Can my friends and I please land?"

_"Yes! Yes! Of course! Come to airbase by castle, I will be waiting for you!"_

"Thanks, Buff Frog!"

The holoprojector blinked off and Star returned to her seat. Tom and Janna exchanged a confused glance. Marco shot Star an equally lost look. "Um...'Buff Frog'?"

"Yeah! He's the best!"

Tom lowered all three eyes. "That...that's not actually his name, right?"

"Well, it's what I call him. C'mon! Let's get down there!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Janna said. "I just want to get this heap on the ground before something else breaks."

* * *

Two Mewmans waving illuminated poles directed Janna as she carefully guided the _Raventalon_ onto the landing pad at Skywynne Airbase. The base had existed for centuries, built by and named after the Queen of Mewni who commissioned its construction and serving as the primary defense for Butterfly Castle, just a few klicks away.

As the ship's landing gear gently touched down, Star could see Buff Frog standing a dozen meters away, patiently watching as the ship touched down. "C'mon! Let's go!" she yelled, hopping out of her seat and bolting from the cockpit, brimming with excitement.

"Star, wait!" Marco begged, staggering to his feet. "I can't...move that fast."

Star was already out of earshot, down in the hold where the boarding ramp extended from the ship. She threw the lever down and hopped up and down with impatience and excitement as she waited for the ramp to lower. Before it was even on the ground, Star was racing down, jumping off the end and running toward her friend.

"Buff Frog!"

The big frog man waited with open arms. "Star Butterfly!"

She launched off of the landing pad and into her friend's arms, hugging him back with just as much crushing force as he bestowed upon her.

"My little Sweet Potato!" Buff Frog boomed. "It has been too long!" He dropped Star back onto her feet.

"I know! How long has it been? Three years?"

"I believe so. Look at you! You have grown so much!" Then Buff Frog lowered his voice. "Star...when Senator Eclipsa tell us all about Order 66...we all feared that you were dead."

"I'm sorry, Buff Frog. I was kinda too focused on escaping Coruscant to think about contacting home to let you all know I was okay."

Buff Frog smiled at her again. "Is okay. Am so glad to see you alive."

A clanking noise caught their attention and they turned to see Marco clomping down the _Raventalon_'s boarding ramp, his prosthetic leg punctuating every step with a loud _clang! _Tom, Janna, and PY-HD followed close behind.

"Oh! You have to meet my friends!" Star exclaimed. "Come on!" She grabbed Buff Frog by the hand and dragged him in tow behind her, meeting the others halfway.

"Everyone! Everyone!" Star began excitedly. "This is General Yvgeny Bulgolyubov, the highest ranking leader of the Mewni Militia that isn't one of my parents. But I call him 'Buff Frog.' Because he's a frog." She reached up and squeezed his upper arm. "And he's buff. Buff Frog, these are my friends! This is Janna Ordonia, Captain of the_Raventalon_, this beautiful ship we arrived on."

As if on cue, one of the _Raventalon_'s landing struts gave a _pop! _as it lost hydraulic pressure and the ship listed over to port.

"This is Tom Lucitor, her copilot. Pony Head, the best astromech droid in the whole galaxy-"

"Why does droid have horn?" Buff Frog interrupted.

PY-HD twittered angrily.

"Because it's awesome," Janna said simply.

"-And last but not least, my very best friend and fellow Jedi Padawan, Marco Diaz!"

Buff Frog bowed. "Is pleasure to meet all of you!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, General," Tom said, choosing to avoid Buff Frog's last name for fear of mispronouncing it. He extended his hand as the General stood back up.

Buff Frog accepted Tom's handshake. "Please, please, call me Buff Frog. No need for such formalities. Any friend of Star's is friend of mine!"

Buff Frog looked hard at Marco. "You must be boy who is very skilled with lightsaber."

Marco waved off the comment. "Psssh. Nawww. I'm not that good."

Star gently elbowed Buff Frog in the ribs. "Yes, he is."

"Star tell Buff Frog all about her best friend, 'Saber Boy, on her last visit. Am so happy to finally meet you!" And Buff Frog shook Marco's hand as well.

"Nice to meet ya, Buff Frog," Janna said, taking her own turn to shake the General's hand. "I'm hoping maybe you can help us. Both of my ship's hyperdrives are out of commission and we need to get to Corellia to buy replacements."

"And a new starboard sublight engine, too," Tom added.

"Of course! Mewni Militia will help in any way we can." He waved to a pair of Mewmans who were working nearby, and they hopped into a large air speeder. "But first we must go to Butterfly Castle and see Queen and King. Have not yet told them Star was here. Am sure they will be very, very surprised!" And he laughed heartily.

The Mewmans pulled up alongside with the speeder.

"Oh, yeah! If Mom and Dad think I'm dead, they're probably gonna freak out!" Star laughed.

"My thoughts exactly," Buff Frog winked.

Star helped Marco climb aboard and Buff Frog easily lifted PY-HD into the back as if the droid were made of cork. Then Buff Frog instructed the Mewman pilots to take them to the Castle, and they quickly left the airbase.

* * *

Queen Moon Butterfly sat at the desk in her study, idly signing her name with a stylus on various digitized documents that required her attention. Normally she would have poured over every single word of every single page of every single order and legislative script that came across her datapad. But ever since Eclipsa had informed her of everything that had happened on the night the old Republic fell to the Emperor's hand and Palpatine ordered the execution of the entire Jedi Order, Moon could not focus. The most attention she could muster toward any one of these documents was a brief skim before signing it and moving on to the next one.

Could anyone blame her? Her daughter, her only child, that which she treasured more than anything else in the galaxy and yet barely knew because that daughter was a Jedi, was dead; Dead because a power-hungry politician who just happened to be a Sith Lord ordered the execution of every single Jedi Knight and student. On top of that, her sister was now on the run. Eclipsa had not been at her office the night of Order 66, but had come to the Senate building early in the morning of the day after Palpatine's announcement of the Imperial reconfiguration to find Clone Troopers and Imperial Guards ransacking her office. Luckily, she had bolted so quickly that they had not seen her. Fearing that the higher powers were seeking her out as a family member of a traitor to the Republic in the Senate, Eclipsa had sent Moon a quick communicate telling her of the situation. Then she had boarded her personal spacecraft alone and making herself as scarce as she possibly could, completely cutting off all contact, worried she may be tracked.

Then had come a squadron from the Imperial Army, asking if she had been in contact with her daughter.

"What?" Moon could not believe her ears. "My daughter is dead! How could you even ask such a thing?"

"We are aware, Queen Moon," Commander Emond had said politely. "There was so much destruction at the Jedi Temple that some Jedi's bodies were lost in fires and explosions and we were unable to account for Padawan Butterfly. We simply are trying to confirm her death."

"How dare you come in here asking about our daughter as if she were livestock!" River had yelled.

"I apologize, your majesties. It's not a question I would ask if it were not my job. Just the same, though, to appease my superiors, I will need to see your communicate records. Then, I promise, we will leave you be."

Obviously there was nothing for the Imperials to find, and good to their word, they left soon after. Well, except for that surveillance ship that had been in orbit for weeks now, but it hadn't bothered anyone. In fact, she'd been alerted about an hour ago that the Imperial's spy ship had suddenly left the system.

And so it had been for weeks now: Moon and River, mostly isolated in the castle, not really making much of an effort to pull themselves out of the deep depression they were lost in. It was bad enough they had lost a daughter, but they had also lost an opportunity to even get to know their daughter, as most of her life had been spent at the Jedi Temple. The only memories they had of Star were her infancy and a few times that she was allowed to return home for traditional Mewnian events as the Princess.

Moon removed her spectacles and looked up at the sound of a knock at the door. "Yes?"

"Just me, dear."

"Come in."

The door opened and River stepped into the office. Moon was surprised to see that her husband was actually dressed. "Manfred says we have a visitor," he said solemnly.

"A visitor? Who?" Moon was not in any sort of mood to entertain a guest.

"Buff Frog, apparently."

"Buff Frog? Buff Frog never drops in unannounced unless it's really important."

"I thought that, too."

Moon slowly stood up. "I suppose we had better go and see what he wants."

* * *

"Lucy, what are you doing?" Janna whispered, trying not to let her voice echo in the massive dining hall. She was fairly certain this was the largest interior room she had ever been in that was not a hanger or a warehouse.

Tom was carefully folding a silk handkerchief he had taken from his pocket. "Just...you know..." He glanced at Star, who was standing beside Buff Frog and anxiously tapping her foot. "...preparing for tears."

Star seemed to have been hit by a wall of emotion the second she had set foot in the castle. Gone was her excitement and jokes about how her parents would surely freak out when they saw that she was still alive. Instead, she had become very quiet, staring at the door a few paces away from where they waited at the end of the table, wishing she looked a bit more presentable. Despite having been washed a number of times in the clothing cleaner on board the _Raventalon, _her "I'm not a Jedi" sky blue dress had become faded and tarnished from her adventures and the hem was tattered in several places. She straightened her horn headband for the umpteenth time.

"Don't you think it'll be kinda weird for a total stranger to suddenly offer the King and Queen of Mewni a handkerchief in the middle of them reuniting with their thought-to-be-dead daughter?"

"What? It's not for them! It's for me."

Janna very slowly rolled her eyes. "Ohhhhhhh."

Tom scowled. "Hey, just because you have less emotion than a droid doesn't mean I'm not allowed to feel things."

PY-HD chirped indignantly.

"Will you guys please be quiet?" Marco urged. He had turned around one of the chairs from the comically long dining table and taken a seat, his heavy prosthetic having tired him out. "You're gonna embarrass yourselves."

The two smugglers ignored him.

"I do not!" Janna shot back, her voice becoming a little bit louder.

"You do, too! At least Pony Head gets mad at me! You didn't even get the tiniest bit angry when I crashed the ship into the side of a mountain! You have no emotions whatsoever!"

"Well, maybe I prefer it that way!"

Under his breath, Marco tried to get their attention. "Guys."

"It wouldn't kill you to show a little sympathy now and then!" Tom spat.

"Guys."

"And it wouldn't kill you to actually stand up for yourself in front of our clients instead of letting them walk all over you! It makes us look bad!"

"Guys!"

"What, Marco?" Janna snapped.

Marco pointed in Star's general direction and Tom and Janna followed his indication. Queen Moon and King River were standing in the doorway, their mouths slightly agape, their eyes wide, astounded at what they were seeing.

The room fell eerily silent.

Star slowly walked toward them, and they hesitantly stepped closer to her until they met in the middle.

"Star?" Moon's voice cracked, her vocal chords clogged with emotion.

Star gave a tiny wave with her right hand. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," she quietly greeted.

For a moment, no one moved, everyone else in the room scarcely daring to breathe.

And then the royal parents swooped in and engulfed their daughter in a tight hug, Star throwing her arms around each of their necks. Mere seconds passed before tears began to stream unchecked from all three members of the embrace.

"We thought we'd never see you again," Moon cried.

"We thought you were dead," River said much less tactfully.

Janna heard sobbing behind her and turned to see Tom individually drying each of his three eyes with his handkerchief.

The Queen and King loosened their grip on Star enough to see their daughter's face.

"I...I have so many questions," Moon stuttered. "I don't even know where to begin."

"How in the galaxy did you escape?!" River cried, knowing exactly the question he wanted the answer to most. "We heard the Jedi Temple was torn apart trying to execute everyone inside!"

"Well..." The explanation would be long. Star knew that. But she didn't want to leave the others awkwardly watching while she told the whole story. After all, they were a part of the tale. Shouldn't they help tell it? "It was quite an adventure. It's a really long story, but..." Star looked back at her friends behind her with Buff Frog. "I definitely wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my friends."

Her parents looked over at the group waiting a little ways away. Marco got to his feet expectantly and Buff Frog stepped to the side, out of the way.

"Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Captain Janna Ordonia, Tom Lucitor, their droid, Pony Head, and Marco Diaz. If it wasn't for them...I'd...almost definitely be dead."

Tom quickly wiped his nose and stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket as the royal family of Mewni approached. The King and Queen greeted each of them and shook their hands reservedly, Moon beginning with Marco.

"So you're Marco," she said with a smile. "Star told us all about you the last time she was here. It's so nice to finally meet you."

Marco swallowed nervously. "Um, likewise, your, uh, your majesty."

She chuckled. "You can just call me 'Moon,' dear."

Marco relaxed slightly. "Oh, um...thank you, Queen Mo- _hurk!" _Marco groaned as he suddenly had the air squeezed from his lungs by a crushing hug from behind.

"Marco Diaz!" River boomed as the short man lifted Marco clear off the ground. "Thrilled to finally meet you!"

"You...*gasp*...too!"

"Dad!" Star laughed, "you're choking him!"

"Oop!" River let Marco go, and the drop to the floor threw the young Padawan off balance, causing him to land in a heap on the floor. "Ooh! Sorry, my boy!" The angle at which Marco landed allowed River to catch sight of the metal leg beneath the boy's trouser leg. He held out a hand to help Marco back to his feet. "You know, with everything Star told us about you, I thought she would have mentioned that you only had one leg."

"River!" Moon scolded.

Marco took the King's hand and found himself hauled easily back to his feet. "Well, it's a, uh, very recent development."

When all of the introductions had been made, the Queen and King turned again to Star.

"I still can't believe you're here, Star," Moon said as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes again.

"I'm sorry I couldn't contact you to let you know I was okay."

"That's alright. We're just thankful that you're alive."

For a long moment, no one was sure what to say.

"Why don't we get Star's friends set up into the guest rooms?" River suggested, taking note of how disheveled and tired Star and her friends appeared. "And while they get cleaned up, we'll have the royal chef prepare a grand feast, and then they can tell us all about their adventure over a hearty meal?"

"Mmm, a feast sounds good," Marco whispered to himself. "I am so sick of emergency rations."

"I think that's a wonderful idea, River," agreed Moon. "General Bulgolyubov, would you like to join us for dinner?"

Buff Frog rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "Oh, I could not. I have big stack of important, boring paperwork to look over at base."

"Aww, please, Buff Frog?" Star pleaded, looking up at him with shimmering eyes.

"Um...well..."

"What if my mom gave you a direct order to stay for dinner?"

Buff Frog laughed. "Well, then I suppose I would not have choice."

Star looked back at her mother. "Mom?"

"Star, I can't just-" Moon suddenly found herself looking back into the same pleading eyes her daughter had used on Buff Frog. She chuckled. "Um, General Bulgolyubov, I order you to join us for dinner."

Buff Frog grinned. "Seems I have no choice but to leave big stack of boring paperwork until tomorrow."

And everyone laughed.

* * *

The Royal servants prepared guest rooms for Tom, Janna, and Marco. Star didn't think her parents would approve of Marco sharing her childhood bedroom with her and was disappointed that she would have to spend the nights alone again, but was already making plans for how she would sneak out in the night to see him.

After a very long, hot shower, Star returned to her bedroom wrapped in a towel to find something to wear. She was rather disappointed that she had outgrown all of the clothes in her room, having grown at least two inches since the last time she had been home on Mewni. She was just about to put her ragged blue dress back on when there was a knock at the door.

"Yes?"

"Princess Butterfly, it is I, Sir Lavabo."

"Lavabo!" Quickly making sure that her towel was secure, she hurried to open the door. There stood Sir Lavabo, Knight of the Wash. He bowed to her politely.

"M'lady, I welcome your return home."

"Thanks, Lavabo! I missed ya, ya weird laundry knight."

"Um, thank you, Princess. I missed you, as well."

"How are things down in the subbasement?"

"Nothing much ever changes, m'lady. I bring to you a gift from your parents." He held up a thin box. "I was instructed by your parents to bring you and your friends a change of clothes for dinner."

"Aw, how sweet!"_ And perfectly timed, too. _"Thank you!" Star took the box and Lavabo bowed again as if to leave. "Oh, wait! Lavabo! Hang on one second!" She skipped over to her bed and snatched up her blue "not-a-Jedi disguise" dress. "Do you think you can fix this ol' thing up at all? It's been through the wringer, but I've survived so much wearing this that I'm starting to think it's lucky."

Lavabo smiled. "I will give nothing less than my best work, Princess."

"Thanks, Sir Lavabo!"

The Knight of the Wash bowed again. "It is my honor. Long live the wash!"

When Lavabo had gone and Star had safely closed the door again, she set the box on her bed and removed the lid. Inside was a long, dark green glittery dress. "Wowwwww! This is beautiful!" Star whispered aloud.

As she slid into it, she wondered to herself what her friends would look like at dinner. She'd never seen Marco in anything more formal than a Jedi robe, and Janna and Tom both had their own very specific styles that they pretty much never deviated from.

_Come to think of it, that blue dress is about the only thing Marco's ever seen me in other than my Jedi robe and that cloak thing I'd put on whenever we went for tacos._

Star looked at herself in the mirror, admiring the fancy new getup. It was quite easily the most beautiful article of clothing she had ever worn.

_This oughta be interesting._

* * *

"Wow, Pony Head!" Marco exclaimed. "You're so shiny I can see myself in your dome!"

The droid twittered happily, and Marco wished he could understand what it was saying. PY-HD had been taken down to the basement (above the laundry room in the sub-basement) to the castle's droid maintenance shop, where the blue-and-pink astromech was charged, lubricated, cleaned, and polished to a mirror-like shine. When Marco said he could see himself in the droid's dome, he was not exaggerating.

Marco himself had traded his hoodie for a white three-piece suit graciously provided for him by some guy who introduced himself as "the Knight of the Wash." He was incredibly surprised to find that it fit him perfectly despite no measurements being taken.

He'd returned to the dining hall where he found PY-HD already waiting. Tom was the next to arrive, dressed in an almost identical suit to Marco's. His hair, normally spiked straight up, was slicked down around his horns.

"Hey hey! Lookin' good, Tom!"

"Thanks, you too," Tom replied hastily, looking like he was trying not to laugh. "Wait until you see Janna, though."

"Why, what's-"

Marco fell silent as Captain Ordonia entered the dining hall, dressed in a floor-length, very poofy, bright pink dress. She had forgone her hat and her hair had actually been brushed.

"Holy bantha crap, Janna..." Marco gasped as she came up to them.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that you'd wear that color," laughed Tom. "Or, you know, a _dress._ I'm surprised you're not, like, seething mad right now."

Janna smirked mischievously and gave her hair a flip. "You just never thought I'd be able to pull this off." Then she turned more serious. "But really, when I saw this thing, I thought I was gonna hate it, and then I put it on and I was sure I was gonna hate it."

Marco raised an eyebrow. "So...do you hate it?"

Janna shrugged. "You know, I usually don't care in the slightest what I look like. I just wear what I think is comfortable. And this-" She motioned to the poofy thing on the bottom of her dress. "-definitely not comfortable. But then I saw myself in the mirror and I was like 'dang, I look good!" She shrugged a second time. "I thought about changing, but, it's only for one night, and I've never been to a feast in a royal castle before. I'd probably feel super out of place in my normal clothes, so I figured, what the heck?"

Marco and Tom laughed. "I kinda hate to admit it," Tom said, "but you do actually pull that off far better than I would have expected."

Janna smirked again. "Flying, smuggling, hitting a moving target with a blaster pistol from 50 meters, totally pulling off a poofy pink dress, I do it all."

"You're a very multitalented individual," Marco chuckled. "Don't forget totally_owning _a giant cave monster with a lightsaber and custom metal prosthetic crafting."

"Thanks for reminding me, Marco! I left out the two coolest things."

"And you're so humble, too," Tom quipped.

"And I have the emotional range of a horned melon," Janna shot back.

"Janna, I didn't mean it like that."

"You still think it's true, though, don't you?"

"Wha-! Na-! Uh-!"

"You do!"

"No! I don't!"

"Marco, do you think I'm emotionless?" There was no response. "Marco?" Janna turned to look at him.

Marco was staring at the doorway where Star currently stood, having just arrived. She had pulled up her hair into a huge top knot on the back of her head, leaving a few curls dangling on either side of her face, and retained her horn headband. The slim, sleeveless, glittery dark green dress made her bright blue eyes sparkle even more than usual.

"Oh, boy," Janna muttered, catching the dumbstruck expression on the Padawan's face. "We've officially lost Marco." Tom nodded in agreement.

Star slowly made her way over to her best friend. "What do you think?" she asked shyly.

"You look...amazing."

The skin beneath the hearts on Star's cheeks blushed pink. "You don't look so bad yourself." And she giggled softly, looking into his eyes with reverence.

The urge to kiss his best friend had never been stronger, but Marco resisted, feeling that it was probably inappropriate to do so here. He didn't know who might be watching besides Tom, Janna, and PY-HD. His judgement call turned out to be a good one as the door to the dining hall opened one last time and the Queen and King, accompanied by Buff Frog, entered.

Star quickly spun around at the sound of the door opening.

"Oh, Star," her mother cooed, "You look lovely!"

"Thanks, Mom!"

River stepped up directly in front of her, the corners of his eyes moistening again. He gently caressed her cheek. "Look at my little girl, all grown up."

"Dad," Star sniffled. "You're gonna make me cry again."

River gave her cheek a gentle pat. "Me, too." He stepped back. "Alright, c'mon, everyone! Let's have ourselves a feast! I want to hear all about your adventures!"

* * *

And so, the King and Queen, the pair of Jedi, the captain and her copilot, and Buff Frog took their seats at the table. The servants brought out a dozen plates of food, many of which bore dishes involving Mewni corn as a main ingredient. Star, Marco, Tom, and Janna dug in hungrily, thrilled to have anything to eat that was not ration packs or nutrient bars.

As they ate, the four teenagers took turns telling the story that ended with their eventual arrival on Mewni. The two Padawans struggled to keep their composure as they recounted their final conversation with Kit Fisto and subsequent encounter with Darth Sidious in the Chancellor's office. Janna and Tom told the story of how they rescued their friends from Coruscant, and Buff Frog was very interested in hearing about how they had built their hyperdrive "slingshot." They edited out a good portion of their time lost in space as there wasn't much to tell, and Janna greatly embellished the story of how she saved Marco from the various monsters they encountered in the cave in Moraband.

Star and Marco chose to leave out the latter's meeting with Darth Bane's ghost, and their romantic confession was foregone, as well. There would be a more appropriate time to tell Star's parents about their requited love later, when they'd gotten to know Marco a little better.

All the while, the Queen and King hung on their every word. Moon would often cover her mouth with her hand as she gasped in shock, but River cheered and applauded at every daring escape and near miss.

Finally, long after the plates had been cleared away, the story came to a close.

"...and the backup hyperdrive caught on fire when we dropped out of hyperspace, so its totally destroyed, too, now," Janna said.

"So your ship now has no means of hyperspace travel at all, then?" Moon asked.

"Yup. Unfortunately."

Tom cleared his throat. "We actually were hoping that perhaps we could ask you for a favor, your majesties."

"Well, by all means, ask away!" River urged.

Janna took over. "We'll have to go to Corellia to get replacement hyperdrives. And a new starboard sublight thruster. We were hoping that, since the_Raventalon _is out of commission now, that you might have a ship we could borrow to go there and pick up the parts?"

"Of course!" River exclaimed, but Moon cut him off.

"Hold on a moment, River. Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"Oh, boy, here we go," Star whispered to Marco beside her.

"I'd never go there if I didn't have to. But it's the only place where we can get the proper replacement parts, unfortunately," Janna explained.

"You probably haven't heard since you've been out of contact with the rest of the galaxy for quite some time, but the Corellian Engineering Corporation has been contracted by the Empire to build their new starship fleet," Moon explained. "They've stationed quite a large number of troops there as protection for the ship yards and implemented all sorts of new protocols and control zones for the whole planet. It's not safe."

"Mom, have you even been listening to the whole story we've been telling?" Star interjected. "We've been anything but safe for weeks!"

"There's a difference between being in danger beyond your control and knowingly jeopardizing your safety, Star!"

"If I may, Queen Moon," Janna said quickly before either mother or daughter could say anything further, "Tom and I are smugglers."

Tom cringed and smacked his face with his hand, and Star and Marco both held their foreheads as if in pain. They had purposely avoided telling Moon and River Tom and Janna's profession in the telling of the story out of concern that the royal leaders of Mewni would not approve of their presence in their castle or being friends with their daughter.

Janna, apparently, had no qualms about it whatsoever.

"Sneaking in and out of places without being noticed is what we do. I've been avoiding detection by the Republic since I was nine. Evading the Empire will be no different."

"Alsooo, Marco and I were planning on staying here," Star added quickly, hoping that detail would help sway her parents' minds.

Moon's mouth hung slightly open, unsure how even to react. She never had a chance to react at all, though, as River spoke up.

"As I was starting to say before, of course you can borrow a ship! I'm sure General Bulgolyubov has something you can use! Isn't that right, Buff Frog?"

"Oh! Um, yes! Of course! Mewni Militia have small, unassuming cargo ship that will be perfect thing. And will give you clearance code so we don't almost shoot you down again when you return."

Buff Frog's last statement caught Marco off guard. "Wait, what?"

"Thank you very much, General, your majesties," said Tom, not about to allow Queen Moon a chance to change her husband's mind. "We appreciate your help very much."

"You're quite welcome, Thomas!" River replied. He stood up from the table and clapped his hands together. "Now, who wants desert?"

* * *

Conversation during desert was more lighthearted. River was very intrigued by Janna and Tom's profession and begged Captain Ordonia to tell some stories of their smuggling adventures. He was very entertained by her tales. Moon and River then filled in Star on what had been happening on Mewni since she had visited last three years ago.

Eventually, Tom yawned. The trip from Moraband to Mewni had been long with the slow backup hyperdrive and his stuffed belly was making him sleepy. He looked beside him and saw that Janna appeared to be slumping over in her chair and leaning heavily on the table. He yawned again, and this time Queen Moon noticed.

"Well," she said at a lull in the conversation, "it is getting rather late. Perhaps we should turn in for the evening."

"I should be getting back, too," Buff Frog said. He looked at Janna and Tom. "Come to Skywynne Airbase tomorrow, around noon, and I will have ship ready for you."

Janna nodded gratefully. "Thank you very much, Buff Frog. And thank you, too, your majesties, for everything."

"Think nothing of it!" River chuckled heartily.

"And please," Moon added with a friendly smile, "call us 'Moon' and 'River.' There's no need to be so formal."

The smugglers chuckled. "Thank you, Moon and River, for everything," Tom said, standing up from the table as Janna did the same beside him. "Goodnight, everyone."

There was a rousing chorus of goodnight wishes in return as Tom and Janna left the dining hall. Buff Frog also rose to his feet and bid everybody goodbye before heading out the door to return to Skywynne Airbase.

And so, Star and Marco were left alone at the table with Moon and River.

"Are you ready for bed, dear?" River asked.

The Queen blinked. "Yes, I suppose..." She looked at Star, almost as if she were afraid her daughter would disappear if she looked away.

Star saw the look on her mother's face. "I'll still be here in the morning you know, Mom," she laughed.

The Queen smiled and stood up. "I know." Star and Marco got up, as well, and Moon and River stepped around the table to their daughter, each taking a turn hugging her. Marco respectfully stepped back to give them space.

"Goodnight, Star," Moon whispered. "We're so glad that you're home."

"Me, too, Mom."

Then the King and Queen bid goodnight to Marco as well and they headed off to bed.

"Your parents are nice!" Marco said when they'd gone.

Star smiled at her best friend. "I think they like you."

"You think so?" Marco asked happily.

Star roughly threw her arms around Marco's neck. "I know so." She pulled her best friend in for a kiss, melting into Marco's arms as he lovingly pulled her close against his body. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to do that?"

"Hours?"

"Hours!" She took Marco by the hand. "Will you go for a walk with me before we go to bed? Just once around the castle?"

Marco gave her hand a squeeze. "Of course."

* * *

Tom and Janna slowly climbed the stairs up to the second floor of Butterfly Castle. In their very sleepy state, the staircase seemed like it would go on forever.

"I promise," Tom panted, "I will never, ever take a turbolift for granted again."

Finally, they reached the second floor landing.

"Which way are our rooms again?"

"That way," Janna said, pointing down the corridor. "This place is like a maze."

Tom followed Janna through the various corridors all the way until they found themselves right outside of the door to Janna's room. Tom's was the next one down.

"Here we go," Janna announced. "I am gonna sleep like a rock."

"Me too."

Janna tapped the button on the activation panel and the door quietly slid aside. She stepped into the guest room and was very confused when Tom followed her.

"Uhh...Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"What, uh...what are you doing?"

Tom looked around, his three eyes suddenly widening as he realized what he had been thinking. "Oh! This...your room." Janna nodded slowly. "Right! Uh...I forgot...that we're not, you know...still on the ship...and I have my own...room again."

"Yeah."

Tom rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Uh, sorry. I'll, uh, go."

"Okay."

"Goodnight," Tom called awkwardly as he evacuated the room and closed the door behind him.

_That was weird,_ Janna thought, but any further dwelling on the strange occurrence was pushed from her mind by the thought of slumber.

And of getting out of that horribly uncomfortable pink dress.

* * *

The Mewni sun had sunk beneath the horizon over an hour prior. The night was clear and the stars sparkled brilliantly overhead as Star and Marco strolled about the castle grounds hand in hand. Neither had much to say. For the first time in weeks, they had no need to run, nothing to hide from, and nothing to repair in order to ensure their survival. For Star there was only Marco, and for Marco there was only Star, standing under a sea of twinkling lights shining down on them from the sky above.

They circled the castle from the main entrance, along the side and out to the expansive castle grounds behind.

"So," Marco said quietly, "How is it being home again?"

Star did not answer right away. For a moment, Marco was not sure she had heard him. "It's nice. I hadn't realized that I had missed my parents so much." She looked all around at the surrounding landscape. "And I forgot how beautiful it was here." She stopped and took both of his hands in hers. "But having my best friend here with me, that truly makes it home."

Marco's heart soared as he laughed. "That was really corny, Star."

She giggled. "I know. But it's the truth." She imitated her mother's voice. "And as a Princess, I must never tell a lie! It wouldn't be proper."

This elicited laughter from both, which was cut off as Star happily pressed her lips against Marco's.

_Home_, she thought as she melted into her best friend's embrace. _It's never felt so nice._

_I sure hope the Empire doesn't find out we're here..._

* * *

"This is not good! We're gonna get caught!"

"I told you we should have hid out on Mon Calamari, but you didn't listen to me!"

"Will both of you please shut up?!"

Rhombulus peaked through the narrow gap between the planks that made up the wall. Outside, scores of stormtroopers in brand-new identical armor marched past in perfect formation, their footsteps thundering in perfect rhythm. And behind them, their leader, the last being in the galaxy that Rhombulus wanted to see:

Darth Vader.

**Next: Something you ****were definitely not expecting. ****  
**

**I hope you enjoyed this very lengthy chapter! ****Don't**** forget to ****review****! **

**By the way, the number of views this story has had more than *doubled* in the month of November. Thank you all so much for reading! As I've said before, I've never put this much work into one of my fanfics before, so I am so happy that people are enjoying this tale that came out of my imagination, and I hope you will all continue to enjoy where the story goes next! (I consider this chapter to be like the end ****of ****Act 1****. ****Act 2 will have more locations and a lot more action****.****)**

**Thank you all sooooo much! May the Force(s Of Evil) be with you...or...something...****  
**

**Chapter 22 coming soon!**


	22. The Sad Story Of Rhombulus

**I had to make up a species for Rhombulus because in the show he was...you know...made of magic and therefore was one-of-a-kind. The species name I went with was "Cerulean," which, if you don't know, is a shade of blue. I just think it's a cool word and it ends in "an" so it sounds like it could be a species of something. **

**See, it's funny, because Rhombulus is green. **

"We are so dead!"

"I told you to can it!" Rhombulus whisper-yelled at his left hand. He peeked through the opening again. Darth Vader stood in the middle of the street, terrifying and menacing in appearance without even moving. The stormtroopers ceased their march, waiting at attention for orders.

Huddled beneath the awnings and overhangs of the rickety buildings that lined the central road, the citizens of the small and remote outpost cowered in fear as they watched the Imperial forces invading their home.

"This is all my fault," Rhombulus moaned, shaking his head. "I never should have come here."

His right hand blinked at him. "Just gonna throw this out there one more time: I wanted to go to Mon Calamari."

"Shut up!"

Rhombulus was a Cerulean Jedi Knight, a very strange alien species containing three separate consciousnesses. Each of his hands literally had a mind of its own, along with their own eyes, mouthes, nostrils, and vocal chords. They rather looked like snakes who's tails morphed into his muscular body. The head that capped that body was a giant crystal containing Rhombulus's singular main eye and no further features, making him part reptile and part rock.

"That Jedi is here," Vader said. "I can sense his presence. Spread out and find him."

_"Yes, sir!" _The stormtrooper captain signaled his men. _"Fan out! Search every possible hiding place. Tear this place apart if you must and find that Jedi!"_

Rhombulus cringed as the troopers broke their ranks, the residents of the outpost shrinking back even more as the Imperial soldiers passed. He watched as they forced their way into every shop and home on the main street, roughly pushing the inhabitants out of the way.

_Definitely not the same clone troopers I served with_, Rhombulus thought. _They would never treat civilians with so little respect._

_Then again, my own troops turned on me, so what do I know?_

Rhombulus had been deployed on assignment when Order 66 had been issued. He and his troops had been stationed on Ord Mantell in the Mid-Rim, defending the planet's capital from the Separatist droid army. They were losing. Badly.

Which ended up being quite fortunate for Rhombulus.

They were greatly outnumbered and, despite Rhombulus's best efforts to defend his company, his clone troopers' numbers were dwindling fast. The battle droids forced them to fall back to the command post located on the ground floor of the capital building. By the time they made it, only seven of Rhombulus's clone troopers were still standing.

_"What do we do now, sir?" _Commander Blick had asked when they had barricaded the door. The other remaining troopers had taken up firing positions at the windows, picking off the droids as they advanced on the capital building.

Rhombulus shook his head sadly. "We did our best, but I'm afraid Ord Mantell has fallen. We'll have to call for an evacuation." He rested a snake hand on Blick's shoulder. "You and your men fought valiantly, Commander. Those droids just had us so badly outnumbered, we never stood a chance."

Blick removed his helmet, smiling somberly. "I appreciate the sentiment, General. And, if it's any consolation, win or lose, my brothers and I have been proud to serve under you."

Despite what happened next, Rhombulus did not doubt that his second-in-command's words were truthful. Rhombulus had always been very popular with the Clone Troopers for much the same reason that the Republic's bred soldiers were proud to serve under General Skywalker, Kenobi, Plo Koon and several others: he treated his men as equals, friends, not just expendable humans grown in a test tube for the Republic's war machine. The clones looked up to Rhombulus. Even when they were losing, their moral never faltered so long as their Jedi General was leading the charge, his azure-bladed lightsaber guiding them along. Often, Rhombulus would detour his command ship between assignments to stop at a cantina somewhere and take his battle mates for drinks, toasting the comrades they had lost on the last mission and to good fortune and victory on the next.

And yet, in spite of all of that, Commander Blick had still tried to kill him without a second of hesitation. Rhombulus could not understand how it could be so. He had no way of knowing that Clone Troopers had been bred with a biological control chip in their brains that would make them unable to disobey when Order 66 was issued. Thus, he was left feeling not only betrayed, but incredibly saddened.

Blick had offered to call the cruiser waiting in orbit and request an evacuation, stepping away to make the communicate. But just as he was about to call the cruiser, his commlink chimed with an incoming transmission. He answered it. "This is Commander Blick, seven hundred and eighteenth Legion."

_"Commander Blick. This is Chancellor Palpatine." _

Blick was stunned. Why would the Chancellor be calling him?

He wasn't given any time to think about it, though, as Palpatine did not allow him the chance. _"The time has come. Execute Order 66."_

The switch had been thrown. The loyalty shifted. One singular desire consumed every fiber of Commander Blick's being: Follow Orders.

"It will be done, my Lord."

Blick switched off the commlink and slid his helmet back onto his head. He pulled his blaster pistol from the holster on his belt and turned around. Rhombulus was at the window beside the front door with a trooper called Max, using a spare blaster that had been in a supply crate, firing at the coming onslaught of droids bearing down on them.

Blick touched the trigger on his helmet that switched on the comm channel in each clone's helmet. _"We have new orders, boys. Protocol 66."_

If Blick had still been acting of his own free will, he might have noticed how, even underneath the full-body armor, his brothers' body language changed. They tensed, their movements becoming almost droid-like.

Max, directly beside Rhombulus, stopped firing at the droids. He looked at the Jedi beside him, still shooting out the window with his blaster, not yet having noticed that Max had ceased fire. Slowly, he pulled his blaster rifle back inside the window and was just turning it to take aim at the General when a droid's shot hit him right in the front of the helmet, killing him instantly.

"Max!" Rhombulus cried, dropping his blaster to the floor and frantically grabbing Max's shoulders with his snakes. "No! Not you, too!"

He was distracted. This was the perfect opportunity. Blick took careful aim at Rhombulus's head and squeezed the trigger. The blaster bolt ricocheted off of the side of Rhombulus's crystal cranium.

"Ouch!" He looked up and found himself staring down the barrel of Blick's blaster. "Blick! What's gotten into you?"

Then Rhombulus noticed the others. All six of the remaining clones were aiming their blaster rifles at him. Moving with incredible speed, Rhombulus grabbed the lightsaber from its pocket inside of his cape, the pale blue blade igniting as the clones fired on him. While his crystal head could deflect blaster bolts, the rest of his body could not. Leaping aside as he deflected the shots he could, Rhombulus was beyond confused. "What are you doing?!" he roared.

The clones did not respond. They just kept firing.

And then the room erupted in a tremendous explosion of granite and plaster. A B2 super battle droid outside had fired wrist rockets in through the open window, exploding against a support column. Rhombulus and the six remaining clone troopers were sent flying from the shockwave before being buried in debris as part of the second floor of the capital building collapsed on top of them.

As one might imagine, it's difficult to knock out a being with a head literally harder than a rock. A little beat up but none the worse for wear, Rhombulus wasted no time in lifting away the rubble that pinned him down using the Force. When he had freed himself, he could see the droids still advancing on his position, only a few dozen meters away. The remains of his Clone Troopers were gone, buried beneath the destroyed section of the capital building.

With no time to waste, Rhombulus took off running. There was nothing he could do on his own to save Ord Mantell; now he needed to focus on saving himself. The droids fired at him a few more times, and Rhombulus deflected their blaster bolts behind him as he ran. Battle droids were never known for being exceptionally speedy, and it wasn't long before Rhombulus lost them in the streets of the capital city.

Soon enough, Rhombulus happened across a ship abandoned when the city was evacuated, a little Q-39 Sunchaser. The old four-seater, single-engine shuttle coughed to life when he fired it up, but it flew and would get him back to the cruiser. That was all that mattered. As he climbed up through the atmosphere, the Cerulean Jedi wracked his brain, trying to figure out why his troops, his _friends,_ had turned on himso suddenly.

Soon enough, the Venator-class Republic Cruiser _Diamondhead_ came into view. So many of the clones aboard had been forced to join the losing battle on the planet's surface that the ship was operating on essential crew members only.

Rhombulus tuned the comm transmitter to the _Diamondhead_'s comm frequency. "This is General Rhombulus. I am returning to the ship now...alone. I'm in the old Q-39 off the bow. Ord Mantell is lost. Blick and his men turned on me..."

_"General_..." The voice responding belonged to Admiral Willard, commanding officer of the _Diamondhead, _having served the Republic Navy since before the advent of the Clone War_. "I'm afraid I know why your troops turned against you."_

"What?! Why?"

_"Sir...the Supreme Chancellor has issued Protocol 66."_

"Protocol 66? What in the galaxy is Protocol 66? I didn't know there was a Protocol 66!"

_"Neither did I, sir. But one of my officers explained it to me. Apparently..." _the Admiral paused nervously. _"It states that in the event the Jedi have committed treason against the Republic...all Jedi commanding officers must be executed on site."_

Rhombulus was stunned into silence. "Jedi...treason..."

_"And I'm afraid that includes you, too, sir."_

The comm channel went dead.

"Wait, what was that last thing?"

The _Diamondhead_'s canons turned toward Rhombulus's commandeered ship. The first shot was made with pinpoint accuracy, a massive bolt of blue energy streaking directly toward his viewscreen.

"Oh."

His hands acted of their own accord, grabbing the control yoke and juking hard to starboard. The laser tore past, missing by less than a meter.

"So, hey," his left snake said. "You think maybe we could think about getting out of here?"

The right snake agreed. "Yeah! It's getting awfully hot around here!"

More lasers filled the sky as the rest of the cruiser's canons opened fire. Rhombulus jerked back to reality. "Uh, yeah! Good idea!"

Taking back control for himself, he pointed the ship passed the _Diamondhead_ and pulled back the hyperdrive lever. The stars stretched into streaks as the ship jumped to lightspeed, but the second he made it fully into to hyperspace, he dropped out again. The microjump was enough to get him sufficiently far away from Ord Mantell and the cruiser full of his former battle mates.

Once he was safe, Rhombulus took stock of his situation. It was clear that he could not return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, nor any military installation. He needed to disappear, but to where?

The solution was not a difficult conclusion to reach, though his hands disagreed and suggested Mon Calamari would be a better destination. He would go to Shri'gaa Outpost on the forrest moon of Endor.

Endor has a number of sentient native inhabitants, but they are primitive races for the most part. However, there is a small outpost located in the moon's northern hemisphere that hosts a few hundred off-worlders who relocated to the quiet moon for one reason or another. Many years before the Clone Wars, Shri'gaa Outpost was plagued by a band of Outer Rim pirates. Rhombulus had been the Jedi sent by the council to ward off the marauders, and had done so single-handedly. He'd been heralded as a hero and some of the friends he had made there stayed in occasional contact with him. Surely, they would assist him.

He had hidden the ship out of sight in a ravine just south of the settlement and walked to Shri'gaa Outpost. As he strolled down the middle of the main street, someone called out to him.

"Master Rhombulus! Is that really you?" The voice came from an old Quarren man who hurried over to Rhombulus as quickly as his old bones would allow.

"Torano!" Rhombulus exclaimed. "You're still here!"

"Indeed, I am! It is so good to see you, Master Jedi! It has been so many years since you were last here!"

"Its good to see you, too. I just wish I was here under better circumstances," Rhombulus said sadly. He explained everything that had happened.

"Well, don't you worry, Master," Torano said when Rhombulus's story ended. "You've got a home here, for as long as long as you need it!"

And so, Rhombulus became a resident of Shri'gaa Outpost. It wasn't long, though, before news of the Imperial Army's actions reached the little settlement. Even in such a huge galaxy, news still spread fast, and soon enough, Rhombulus was informed of Darth Vader and his inquisitors' hunt for the remnants of the Jedi Order. The Cerulean was worried.

"Don't stress yourself over all that," Torano told Rhombulus one morning. "How would the Empire even find you out here? Not a single trooper ever came here during the Clone War. Most people don't even know this here outpost even exists!"_  
_

"I guess I can't argue with you there. I didn't know _anyone_ lived on Endor until I came here all those years ago!"

Torano slapped his friend on the back. "Trust me, my friend. You will be safe here."

But Rhombulus was not so easily convinced. More news of Jedi survivors being discovered and executed reached Shri'gaa Outpost, and Rhombulus found himself wondering just how many Jedi could possibly still be alive. What if he were the last one?

Bounties were posted by the Empire, offering a monetary reward for any information regarding "fugitive members of the traitorous Jedi Order, wanted for conspiracy, treason, attempted murder of Sheev Palpatine, and other crimes against the Galactic Senate."

"No one will believe that," Rhombulus said to Torano when one such poster somehow materialized on the front wall of the Outpost's vegetable distributor. "The Jedi have always been about peace and protection! Surely someone in the Senate is against Palpatine! The Jedi have helped so many of their worlds, and some of the Senators directly!"

Torano grimaced. "I'm afraid the new Emperor has almost unanimous support. He's somehow managed to convince everyone that the Jedi are evil."

Rhombulus shook his head. "There has be someone who can help, before it's too late and the Empire manages to hunt us all down. There must be someone in the Senate we can trust."

Torano sighed. "If only Senator Amidala had not unexpectedly passed away. She was always an advocate of the Jedi Order. She never would have stood for this. She would have helped."

"Yeah...She would." Rhombulus pondered the issue, trying to think of any senator he had ever been in contact with during his tenure as a Jedi that might be able to help him. He was drawing a blank, though, unsure that any of them could not be easily swayed by Palpatine.

"What about Senator Eclipsa Butterfly?" his left hand suggested.

"Hey, Yeah!" agreed the right snake. "She has a niece that's a Padawan, doesn't she?"

Rhombulus perked up. "That's right! Padawan Star Butterfly is Senator Eclipsa's niece! There's no way she would believe the Jedi were traitors! I can't believe I didn't think of that!"

Torano put a hand Rhombulus's shoulder. "My friend...Senator Butterfly is missing."

"Missing?"

"She disappeared not long after the purge."

"What? Why?"

Torano shrugged. "I do not know. I only know she has not been in contact with anyone with in several weeks and no one knows where she is. And, I'm afraid, the Empire has posted a bounty on her, as well."

Rhombulus's heart sank. "She must be on the run, too. They probably think she knows something since she had family in the Order." He dejectedly kicked at a pebble on the dirt road. "Well, maybe I should still try to get in contact with her. Strength in numbers, and all that."

"But how will you even be able to connect with her?" Torano asked. "No one knows where she is."

"Hmmm...Is there a long range transmitter here?"

"Yes, of course, in the communications tower." Torano pointed to the tallest building in Shri'gaa Outpost, a cylindrical duracrete tower with a domed top and a number of varying antennas bolted to the roof. "But what will that do?"

"During the Clone Wars, Senators were given an emergency comm frequency that only the Jedi also had to call for help in the event that the Separatists attempted an assassination or kidnapping or something like that. I can use that frequency in reverse to send her a coded message." He glanced skyward and sighed. "I hope she's okay, wherever she is."

As they walked to the communications tower, Torano was struck with a worrying thought. "Um, Rhombulus, if you're using an emergency frequency that all the Senators have," Torano said slowly, "won't other Senators receive the message, too?"

"Yeah, but they won't know how to decode it, so they won't know who sent it or where it came from. I'll use a code that only Eclipsa knows."

This did not put the Quarren man's mind at ease. "I hope you're right, because you could be putting a lot of people in danger if you're wrong."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

And so, Rhombulus sent out a coded message on the emergency frequency channel, hoping that it would reach Senator Butterfly.

As it turned out, there was no reason for Rhombulus or Torano to fear at all. The Senate's newly minted distrust of the Jedi Order was the catalyst for the installation of a frequency jammer being installed on Coruscant to prevent any fugitive Jedi from utilizing the emergency channel for their own nefarious purposes. Not a single one of the Senators received Rhombulus's coded message.

But, even so, news still spreads quickly, especially when there is a reward at stake and one of your neighbors has already heard stories of what the Empire will do to those who defy the wishes of the Emperor. Unbeknownst to the Jedi Knight and his friend, the Empire had already sent a spy in the form of an very unsuspecting protocol droid on board a supply freighter to verify the claim that a Jedi Knight was hiding out at Shri'gaa Outpost on the forest moon of Endor several planetary rotations earlier. And when the claim had been verified, Lord Vader himself was the one who picked up the mission.

And so, a few hours after sending their message, Darth Vader's Star Destroyer appeared in the sky over Endor, and the Quarren named Torano had told his friend Rhombulus to hide. The Jedi had taken up residence in a rickety wooden abandoned shack in the middle of town, watching as the Imperial Stormtroopers roughly searched the place, looking for him.

He felt like a coward. How could he, a Jedi Knight, sworn to protect the innocent, be hiding like a frightened animal while the people of the little outpost were terrorized by the very beings that _he _was cowering from?

And yet, he felt frozen to the spot, unable to move, watching the stormtroopers conduct their search, feeling very ashamed of himself. He didn't even notice the pair of troopers walking toward his hiding spot until he heard them speak.

_"Let's check in here," _said one to the other.

"Oh, crud," Rhombulus whispered to himself. "Now what do I do?"

His left hand blinked at him. "Can't you just, like, mind trick them?"

"Oh, yeah! Duh!"

Still watching the stormtroopers through the gap between the boards of the shack wall, Rhombulus raised his snake hands and focused on the trooper that appeared to be carrying a piece of scanning equipment. He whispered, "Hold on."

_"Hold on," _repeated the stormtrooper. _  
_

The two troopers stopped.

Rhombulus whispered again. "I'm not picking up any lifeforms in there."

_"I'm not picking up any lifeforms in there."_

"No need to check out this shack."

_"There's no need to check out this shack."_

"Let's move on."

_"Let's move on."_

Rhombulus waited with baited breath, hoping that the other stormtrooper would agree with the first.

_"If you say so. Let's go."_

Rhombulus ducked back from the gap in the wall as the stormtroopers strolled past uncomfortably close. When they'd gone, he let out a long sigh of relief. "That was close."

"No kidding!" his right snake said. "What, did you forget you were a Jedi for a second?"

This only increased Rhombulus's feelings of guilt. "Shut up!"

For twenty minutes more, the Cerulean kept a careful watch on the Imperial activities, hoping he would not be discovered and feeling the guilt eat away at him more with every passing second. Eventually, the stormtroopers began to return to Vader and the stormtrooper captain, each taking their turn informing their leaders that they had found no sign of the Jedi.

When the last of the troopers had returned and still not a trace of the Jedi had been uncovered, Vader looked slowly at the quivering and scared inhabitants of Shri'gaa Outpost. He stared at them for a moment, thinking. Just to his left, a family of three Ithorians huddled together beneath the awning of a shop that sold farming equipment. Vader pointed to them. "Captain, bring them over here."

"Oh, no!" Rhombulus moaned to himself.

The stormtrooper captain hurried over and motioned to the family with his blaster._ "You three. Come on, this way."_The Ithorian parents glanced at each other nervously but did not move. _"Come on! Now! Move!"_

Rhombulus cringed as he watched from his hiding place on the opposite side of the road. The stormtrooper captain ushered the Ithorian parents and their small child in front of Vader.

"Oh, no no no..."

With slow, methodical movements, Vader pushed back his cape and removed his lightsaber from his belt. "General Rhombulus," he called out, his words slow and loud, "your efforts to evade my troops are commendable, but you will not evade me. I know you are here, and very close. I can sense your presence. If you do not surrender yourself to me, I will begin executing the residents of this outpost." There was a panicked murmur from the people within earshot. Vader slowly placed the emitter of his lightsaber against the left temple of the Ithorian child in front of him. It's parents gasped. "Starting with this child."

The child's parents pleaded no, but the stormtrooper captain and another trooper pushed them back. The child stood frozen to the spot, too young to comprehend what was happening, but terrified just the same.

"You have thirty seconds," Vader added.

Rhombulus's hands looked at each other, then up at him. "Well, we had a good run," said the left snake.

"What?"

"We're not just gonna let that little kid, die, right?" asked the right snake.

"There's gotta be something we can do!"

Vader's electronic voice reached Rhombulus's ears. "Fifteen seconds."

"Then you'd better think of something fast," left snake said.

Peering through the gap in the wall again, Rhombulus scanned the surroundings outside the shack as quickly as he could, looking for anything that might help him turn the tide. There were at least fifty stormtroopers. When he had defended Shri'gaa Outpost from the pirate band, he'd only been up against fifteen, and none of them were a Sith Lord.

He had no choice.

"Five seconds. Four. Three. Tw-"

There was a loud crash of splintering wood as several boards from the side of the shack snapped and exploded from the building as the hiding Jedi blasted a hole in the wall with the Force.

"STOOOOOOP!" Rhombulus stepped carefully through the hole in the wall as every stormtrooper's blaster turned on him. "Stop! I surrender!" He fell to his hands and knees. "Just don't hurt the child."

Vader lowered his lightsaber from the child's head and slowly walked toward the Jedi, who hung his head in shame and would not look up at him. "I knew you would not let a civilian die. Your compassion is your weakness, and it will be your downfall." He waved over the stormtrooper captain, who was followed by several other troopers. "Execute the Jedi immediately."

This caught Rhombulus's attention. "Wait, what?"

The captain stepped forward, three other stormtroopers lined up on either side._"Alright, boys. Ready?" _All seven stormtroopers raised their weapons and brought them to bear on Rhombulus._"Aim."_

"Been nice knowing you," Rhombulus's left hand said.

_"Fire."_

Seven bolts of energy left the barrels of seven blasters and struck Rhombulus in the head. Those same seven lasers ricocheted off at seemingly random angles as the massive crystal that made up the Cerulean's cranium deflected them.

"Oh, yeah," said the right snake hand. "Forgot. Crystal Head deflects lasers."

Instantly imbued with determined inspiration, Rhombulus leapt off the ground into the air propelled by the Force before the stormtroopers had a chance to react. His lightsaber flew into his hand, the azure blade igniting before his feet touched back down again directly behind the seven stormtroopers.

_"Stop him!"_ the stormtrooper Captain yelled as Vader calmly observed.

With lightsaber clasped firmly in the mouths of his two snake-hands, Rhombulus quickly dispatched two of the stormtroopers before any of them even had a chance to open fire. His head able to deflect any blaster bolts that struck it, he only needed to protect his body, twirling his lightsaber around to counter as the dozens of stormtroopers around him sent laser fire at him from all directions. Six more stormtroopers fell to deflected blaster fire, two from shots that merely bounced off of his head, and he cut down three more nearby with his lightsaber.

Then...

"Hold your fire!"

Rhombulus, too, froze as the stormtroopers ceased their attack, surprised that the command came from Darth Vader.

"You will not be able to overwhelm this Jedi with blaster fire, and your numbers are already being reduced," he calmly informed his troops as he stepped slowly toward Rhombulus. He held up his lightsaber again. "I will handle this myself." And the crimson blade of Vader's new lightsaber flashed to life.

Rhombulus gripped his lightsaber tighter in the mouths of his snake hands. "You don't frighten me."

"I'm sure." And Vader swung his blade forward in an opening attack.

During his time as a General during the Clone Wars, Rhombulus never once crossed blades with General Grevious. He never encountered Count Dooku, nor did he ever face off against Asajj Ventress. The only blade-to-blade duels he was ever involved in were for training or practice against other Jedi. And so, when he brought his lightsaber blade up to block Darth Vader's initial attack, the ferocity of the blow nearly knocked him off his feet. He stumbled backwards, desperately trying to regain his balance, and by the time he did, Vader had stepped forward and was already swinging his blade toward Rhombulus's head for a second time.

Acting entirely on instinct, Rhombulus ducked backwards, the menacing red blade passing inches away from his face. Quickly, the Cerulean Jedi took a few hurried steps backwards away from his opponent to regroup. He carefully adjusted his grip as Vader strode toward him, better prepared for the next strike.

Vader attacked again, and this time Rhombulus's counter was sured up. The blow did not knock him for a loop and he earned an opportunity to bestow a counterattack. Vader blocked it as if the strike came from a weak old man and sent another parry in Rhombulus's direction.

Their motions grew faster, the humming and crashes of their weapons growing in speed and intensity. Block, block, strike, counter, block, over, under, strike, block.

With each defended attack, Rhombulus's ferocity multiplied, his confidence growing. He was learning Vader's form and strengthening his stance. He felt as though each forward motion of his lightsaber came closer to finding its mark.

He spun around a full three-hundred-sixty degrees to build up some momentum in his blade.

But when he came back around, Vader's lightsaber was waiting for him, and Rhombulus found his midsection impaled on the crimson blade as Vader's free hand caught his lightsaber hilt and stopped its trajectory from colliding with his shoulder.

Lightsabers of red and blue extinguished simultaneously as Vader switched off both. Rhombulus slumped to his knees, stunned into silence, before crashing to the dirt road on his stomach, his body feeling as though it were burning from the inside out.

The residents of Shri'gaa Outpost gasped. The small Ithorian child Vader had threatened began to cry. For several agonizingly long moments, they watched as the Sith Lord stared at Rhombulus dying on the ground. Then he motioned the stormtrooper captain closer. Vader handed the Jedi's lightsaber to the captain and returned his own to his belt. Turning around, he spoke loudly to no one in particular. "For aiding a fugitive and conspiring against the Empire, the inhabitants of Shri'gaa Outpost will be executed immediately."

Every stormtrooper still standing instantly located the civilian closest to them, blasters pointed at every one before the innocent people even knew what was happening.

Rhombulus lay on the ground, paralyzed, the dark eye inside his crystal head unable to look away. He heard the screams and the blaster fire, saw Darth Vader standing just in front of him observing, and there he lay, helpless.

"This...is...all...my...fault..." he groaned.

And then, Rhombulus breathed his last, as his hand-snakes did the same, and the very last thing he saw before he closed his eye was the Ithorian child and its parents collapsing to the ground in a hail of lasers.

* * *

Eclipsa Butterfly had been on the run for weeks. Her ship, the _Meteora_, was very easily identifiable as hers, and it seemed that every planet she traveled to hoping to hide, there were Imperial troops who were on the lookout for her LA-3500x "SkyCruiser" yacht.

Several times, she'd accidentally skirted close enough to be fired on by Star Destroyers, and she'd been shot at by stormtroopers two times more. Unable to find a safe place to land, Eclipsa had no way of resupplying or refueling. Now the_Meteoria_ was running on fumes and the pantry had run out of food five days ago.

The ship was in orbit around the gas giant of Noctu operating in low power mode while Eclipsa tried to decide on her next move.

"Perhaps it would just be easier to turn this ship toward that big ball of gas and give it full throttle," she said to herself, leaning against her elbows on the small table in the lounge. Anything she said was spoken only to herself. She was the only one on board. She didn't even have a droid to keep her company. "Certainly would be easier than starving to death."

A soft beeping caught her attention. The alert came from her commlink, lying on the cushioned bench seat across from her.

_But my commlink is set to receive no transmissions._

Driven by curiosity and fear that her commlink would somehow allow her position to be tracked, Eclipsa bounded from her seat and snatched up the device. She quickly pressed the "disconnect transmission" key, but the commlink still chimed. She pressed it a few more times, but there was no effect.

"What in the galaxy...?"

She examined the commlink closely. Near the bottom of the small cylindrical device, a square-shaped blue light slowly flashed on and off. That meant she had received a communicate that was only readable.

Now even more curious, she hurried back to her seat at the table, picking up her datapad and connecting the two devices. A message in code appeared on the datapad screen.

"Who could this be from?"

The cipher for this message was one she knew well, and she quickly decoded the message:

SENATOR BUTTERFLY: IN NEED OF YOUR ASSISTANCE. JEDI ORDER NEAR TOTAL EXTINCTION. HEAR YOU MAY NEED HELP, TOO. COME TO SHRI'GAA OUTPOST ON ENDOR. IT IS SAFE. IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS LOST MOTH.

JEDI KNIGHT RHOMBULUS

Eclipsa was stunned. In spite of all of the Empire's actions, a Jedi was still out there, and looking for her?

No. It was probably a trap, set by the Imperial Army to capture and/or execute her.

_But what if it isn't...?_

A rush of thoughts flew through Eclipsa's mind: Her lack of supplies. Her likely-dead niece. The evil Sith Lord who now ruled over the galaxy. The Jedi Order, maybe still clinging to life, who could put an end to Palpatine.

A sigh escaped her lips. "Well, I can either die of starvation or by firing squad, and firing squad will be far less unpleasant. And if I'm really fortunate, it will actually be Master Rhombulus waiting for me."

She shut down her datapad and made her way to the cockpit, grabbing her wide-brimmed hat from where she had left it on the empty copilot's seat and pulling it onto her head. Her hyperfuel was still holding out, and there was just enough left in the main reactor fuel tank to get her to Endor.

Without a droid, Eclipsa had to program the navicomputer herself, but she'd done it enough times now that the calculation did not take long. Before long, all was ready. She took a deep breath. "Alright, my love," she said to her ship, giving the controls a gentle pat. "Here we go." She put her hand to the hyperdrive lever. "Let's hope we aren't walking right into a trap."

And she made the jump.

**Hey, check it out, this chapter actually has some Star Warsing in it! **

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter despite none of the main characters being present. Maybe I just needed a break from them.**

**Also, I named Eclipsa's ship ****_Meteora_****because Meteora herself does not appear in this story, and neither does Globgor. I was able to make so many characters from SVTFOE fit not only into the Star Wars universe, but also into the story that I wanted to tell, but I couldn't make Globgor and Meteora work. **

**Well, I mean, I could have, but it would have required the inclusion of an event that I really didn't want to include, so I figured I would just leave them out and name Eclipsa's ship after her daughter that does not appear.**

**Next: The Crew Splits Up**


	23. The Crew Splits Up

Marco awoke as the rising Mewni sun snuck its way into his bedroom window. He groaned, not yet ready to be awake, and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head to block out the light.

_Wait a second..._

He was alone. He pushed the covers back to confirm and found that, yes, he was the only one in the huge guest bed.

_I could have sworn..._

The thought was interrupted by a metallic rattle overhead. When he turned his gaze toward the ceiling, he found the last thing he was expecting to see: Star's face looking back at him from inside the air vent.

"Morning, Marco!" she whispered loudly.

"Star?! Wha-? How'd-? What are you doing in the air vent?!"

Her tongue poked out of her mouth, biting it as she giggled. "You know, just sneakin' around."

"How'd you even get up there?"

The vent opened and Star gracefully hopped out, sticking the landing just beside the bed. She was dressed in her now-familiar sky-blue dress, but it appeared as if brand new, completely restored by the Knight of the Wash. "I used to do this all the time when I was little. That's how they figured out I had Force abilities, because I could jump up into the air vents. Figured out how to do that all by myself." She rubbed her sore elbows. "It's a lot tighter than I remember it being, though."

Marco giggled. "You've probably grown three feet since then."

"Yeah...but I still fit! I snuck back up to my room after you fell asleep last night. I didn't want anyone finding us together and thinking...things."

"...Except you're in here now," Marco reminded her, swinging his legs out of the bed.

"Yeah, but now the sun's up. It's not inappropriate anymore." She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. "Unless we..._make it_ inappropriate."

Marco laughed as he held up both hands defensively. "Let me stop you right there."

Star laughed, too, and sweetly kissed her best friend good morning. "C'mon, Marco, let's go get some breakfast!"

* * *

There was much less conversation at breakfast than there had been at dinner the night before, monopolized by Queen Moon while the others ate quietly. Marco marveled at how the meal again consisted of quite a bit of corn, and yet he wasn't getting tired of it at all. Mewni corn was just that good.

_Especially this corn bread,_ he thought to himself as he buttered a fifth slice. As he guided the sweet confection into his mouth, he noticed PY-HD on the opposite side of the table. Despite the fact that the droid could not physically emote and was currently silent, Marco could tell that the little astromech was extremely bored.

In the seat across from Marco, Tom happened a glance at River. He was thinking that the King also looked extremely unenthused listening to his wife ramble on to Star about Mewni's various political occurrences and trade negotiations. Star, too, seemed to be trying very hard to appear interested and not like she was about to die of boredom.

Queen Moon paused in her conversation to take a bite of her breakfast. There seemed to be a lull. Tom desperately glanced around the table, trying to make eye contact with Star or Marco, but to his surprise found himself locking eyes with King River.

During a span of about five seconds, an entire silent conversation took place between the King and the Demonicite smuggler.

Tom's eyes flickered back and forth from River to Moon. River briefly widened his eyes and shifted his head backwards slightly to shrug without moving his shoulders. Tom raised his eyebrows and titled his head slightly downward.

River looked at his wife. Moon had been taking a sip of her tea and was lowering the cup from her mouth, her lips already poised to speak again. He would have to act quickly and think of something.

"Grr- Ahhh uh, Tom! Janna! You two are heading off to Corellia! What's your plan for finding the parts you need for your ship?"

Tom dropped his fork on his plate and it clattered loudly. "That's a good question, King River!" he replied a little bit too enthusiastically, thankful to not have to listen to Moon go on about the tax on imported buckwheat. "I'm not really sure because Janna hasn't filled me in yet." He looked at his smuggling partner beside him. "Janna! What is our plan once we reach Corellia?"

Beside him, Janna did not look away from her breakfast plate. She wasn't quite sure what, but a feeling she had never experienced before was plaguing her internally. Perhaps she was actually experiencing...what was it called? "Human emotion"? Ironically, she felt as though it may have been because Tom had called her emotionless the previous evening.

...Nah, that couldn't be it. It was probably just because they were getting ready to travel to her least favorite place in the entire galaxy.

"Well," Janna began, keeping her eyes affixed to her plate, "I have a contact on Corellia who is familiar with the various, uh, dealers there and hopefully can suggest one who will have the two hyperdrives and an engine. Unfortunately, I can't contact him until we're on the planet's surface. Hopefully he's still there and, you know, alive." She took a bite of scrambled egg. "Once we find the drives, then we just have to hope the exorbitant prices they'll surely be asking aren't more than what I have saved." She paused. "And if I can't afford them, then we'll just steal 'em," she said calmly.

Tom, Star, and Marco all simultaneously choked on their food, coughing in unison as Janna nonchalantly sipped on her tea. Moon and River simply stared.

"Did she actually just say that to your parents?" Marco whispered to Star.

"Yyyyyyyyyuuuuup. She did."

* * *

"How long do you think you'll be gone?"

Star posed the question to Tom and Janna as they stood outside the castle's main entrance, the smugglers about to leave for Skywynne Airbase and head to Corellia.

"Hopefully not long," Janna replied. "I've never been good at trying to figure out how much time will pass on one planet while I'm traveling to another planet...but, whatever. I don't think it'll be more than, like, two days, depending on how long it takes us to find the parts.

"Well, we'll miss you guys," Star said, throwing her arms around both of them and hugging them tightly. Then she bent down and gave PY-HD a hug, too. "Be careful, you guys!"

"We will," Tom promised.

"And may the Force be with you," Marco added.

"Thanks, you guys," Janna said. "See you soon!"

PY-HD whistled a farewell and Star and Marco watched the smugglers and their droid head down the concourse from the castle and climb into a waiting speeder that would take them to Skywynne Airbase.

"I hope they don't run into any trouble on Corellia," Star said as the speeder pulled away. "Maybe one of us should have gone with them."

Marco set a comforting hand on her shoulder. "They'll be fine. If I've learned anything in the past few weeks it's that Janna is more than capable of taking care of herself, and I'm pretty sure she can take care of Tom, too, if he can't handle himself just as well."

Star sighed. "Yeah. You're right."

"Besides..." Marco smiled slyly, making her think he was about to say something mischievous. "You've gotta take me to get a real replacement leg."

She laughed. "Yes, that is something I must do! Post haste!"

Marco raised an eyebrow. "'Post haste'?"

Star shrugged. "I don't know, it's something I heard a senator say to Aunt Eclipsa once." She took his hand and led him down the castle's concourse. "C'mon! Let's go!"

* * *

Tom and Janna pulled PY-HD off of the speeder in front of Skywynne Airbase's main building where they had been told by their driver to disembark.

"The General is waiting for you inside," the driver said before hastily pulling away as if he were late for a dinner date with a Twi'lek dancer.

Tom looked questioningly at Janna, and she returned only a shrug. "Guess we'll just walk right in, then," he said.

"Yeah, I'm sure they won't mind a couple of teenagers and an unfamiliar droid just waltzing in the front door of their military installation," Janna said sarcastically. PY-HD bleeped an equally sarcastic agreement. "I'm sure this won't raise any red flags at all."

"Well, Buff Frog is expecting us. He probably told them we were coming."

They followed the path up to the door and Tom tried the activation panel, but it did not open. "Oh, great." He pointed to the panel. "You need a key card to get in."

PY-HD roughly pushed Tom out of the way and plugged into the terminal below the panel.

"Don't you worry your pretty little horns, Lucy. Pony Head will get us in."

"Um, hello? Military installation? Are you sure slicing our way in is such a good-"

Tom was cut off as an alarm siren began to blare.

"...idea."

The door slid open and the pair of smugglers found two hulking Mewman soldiers pointing blasters at them. They quickly raised their hands in surrender as PY-HD disconnected from the computer terminal and tried to make itself scarce behind them.

"Just what do you two think you're doing?" asked one gruffly.

"We're just, uh, here to see General- Janna, I can't remember his real name."

"General Bulgolyubov," Janna said quickly. "He's expecting us."

"Ha! Yeah, a likely story," said the other. "Get some binders and take 'em to the hole for questioning!"

The two soldiers stepped toward Tom and Janna, who carefully walked backwards away.

Tom nervously clenched his teeth. "Uh, you know what? That's okay. I think we'll just leave instead."

"Set to stun," the first soldier commanded with annoyance. Both prepared to fire.

"What is going on here?" boomed an annoyed voice from inside the building. A moment later, Buff Frog appeared behind the pair of soldiers, his arms folded and looking rather cross.

"Buff Frog!" Tom and Janna yelled happily.

"General!" the pair of soldiers cried in surprise. The alarm siren ceased its warning.

"Purple Boy and Pilot Girl! I apologize for security here. They will be _standing down now._" Buff Frog's last three words were directed at the soldiers, who begrudgingly lowered their weapons. Then he motioned for Tom and Janna to follow him, flashing them a friendly smile. "Please, come in! I will take you to ship now!"

The guards slowly moved aside to allow the two teenagers and their astromech passage, and Janna stuck out her tongue at them mockingly when she was sure they weren't looking.

"I am sorry about guards," Buff Frog said. "Everyone a bit on-edge after visit from Imperials. They jump at sight of little Mewni-sparrow."

Tom frowned, somewhat confused. "Why? I know the Chancellor turned out to be a Sith Lord and he ordered all the Jedi killed, but...is the Empire itself really _that_ bad?"

Buff Frog turned serious as he led them through the corridors. "Oh, yes. Is very bad. Galactic Empire does not operate at all like Republic. Palpatine is like completely different person now. He is completely overhauling entire Republic Army for Empire, having all new ships and weapons built. When Empire came to question King and Queen, the ship they arrived on was very big. They call it a 'Star Destroyer.' Look kind of like Republic Cruiser, but bigger. And...pointier." Buff Frog lowered his voice as they passed some workers assembling some various piece of equipment. "Some planets have even had hostile takeovers by Imperial troops."

"What?" Janna was surprised. "Why?"

"From what I have heard, when Empire take over, is because Empire want something that planet has." He stopped walking and crouched down lower to Tom and Janna's height, talking barely above a whisper. "There is rumor that Empire has big, secret project of some kind. I think they are taking over planets that have resource they need for whatever project is."

Tom and Janna exchanged a nervous glance as they resumed their journey through the main building at Skywynne Airbase. Eventually, they followed Buff Frog through another doorway and found themselves on the landing pad where they had left the _Raventalon_, which was still sitting at an odd angle thanks to the blown landing shock. There were, however, several people around the front port landing skid, with tool kits and spare parts scattered about nearby.

"I am having some of our spacecraft technicians repair your blown-out landing shock," Buff Frog said, pointing to the YV-560. "Is least I could do to repay you for saving Princess Star."

"Wow! Thank you very much, Buff Frog!" Tom said appreciatively.

"Yeah, thanks so much," Janna agreed. "That's really awesome of you!"

"Think nothing of it! Now, the ship I have prepared for you is right over there." He pointed over to the left, drawing the smugglers' attention to a Hoar Chall Engineering-built _Sheathipede-_class Type-B shuttle.

"Isn't that a Separatist cargo ship from the Clone War?" Janna asked less than enthusiastically as they walked toward it.

"It is. Just picked it up. Hoar Chall was very eager to liquidate every piece of CIS-ordered equipment they still had after Clone War end. Got it for real steal!"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Isn't a Separatist cargo ship a little bit...you know...less than inconspicuous?"

Buff Frog waved off his comment dismissively. "Of course not! We painted it red!"

They stopped in front of the ship, and indeed the separatist's grey-and-dark blue livery had been covered by a fresh coat of hull enamel deep red paint. Janna put a hand on her chin as she sized up the small cargo ship. "Hmm...yeah, I guess that does help." And PY-HD twittered in agreement.

"She is all yours whenever you are ready to leave," Buff Frog said. "There is data card on control panel with clearance code for your return."

Both smugglers turned to face the big frog man. "This is really great of you, Buff Frog," Tom said. "We can't thank you enough."

General Bulgolyubov bowed. "I am happy to be of help."

Janna and Tom looked at each other. "Well, is there any reason not to head off right now?" Tom asked.

"Nope. Sooner we get moving, sooner we get back."

"Agreed."

They both turned back to Buff Frog. "See you in however much time passes before we return," Janna said.

"Take care, you two!" And with a salute, Buff Frog headed back toward the main building.

The smugglers circled around to the ship's stern and started up the boarding ramp. Halfway up, PY-HD began bleeping loudly.

"What's wrong, Pony?" Janna asked.

The droid indicated in the direction of the main building. King River was bounding across the landing pad, carrying something under his arm. "Wait! Janna! Tom! Don't leave yet!" The stout Mewman hurried up the ramp and met the pair in the middle. "I have something for you!" He untucked the item he was carrying from beneath his arm and presented it to them. It was a thin case, which he proceeded to open. Inside were rows of gold-colored credit chips, the highest denomination.

Tom and Janna's eyes lit up. "Whoa!"

"King River, what...what is this for?" Tom asked.

"I'd like to pay for your replacement hyperdrives and sublight engine. Consider it thanks for...you know...saving my daughter from certain death." He sounded slightly choked up, but he cleared his throat and straightened his posture, regaining his composure. "So! There should be more than enough in there to purchase the best condition parts you can find, and whatever is leftover, you may keep to use for whatever you wish."

Captain Ordonia was dumbstruck, something that did not happen often with her...or ever. "Wow, this...this is incredibly generous, your majesty."

"I almost don't feel right accepting it," Tom put in.

Janna slowly slid the case from between River's hands. "Almost."

The King laughed heartily. "It's my pleasure. Now, better be off with you! Corellia is a long way away!"

* * *

"Everyone here must really, really love Star," Tom said as they prepared for takeoff. "I mean, her parents I get, but the general of the whole Mewni military, too?"

"Almost makes me feel spoiled," Janna replied, her eyes darting back and forth across the control panel. "Where the heck is the thermal dampener control on this thing?"

Tom squinted his three eyes at her. "Janna, just curious, have you ever flown a starship that _isn't _the _Raventalon_?"

"Nope. This will be the first time I've ever-" She abruptly fell silent for a moment. "...first time I've ever flown something else, actually. But, hey, you've flown one ship, you've flown 'em all, right? Aside from the locations of the controls."

"Uh..." Tom had flown some other ships in his younger days back before he'd met Janna, and he did not at all agree. But he knew the verbal berating he'd receive if he tried to voice his concerns, so he chose to keep his mouth shut and let her find out for herself. "Yup."

"Oh, _there's _the dampener control! Okay Lucy, everything ready?"

Tom looked at his console readout. "I think so? I'm not completely sure what some of these things are, but they're all lit up green, so..."

Behind them, PY-HD was plugged into the computer terminal. The astromech relayed that all systems were ready.

"Good enough for me! Here we go!" Janna brought the control stick up just as she would on the _Raventalon _and the engines screamed as ship shot up off of the landing pad. "Whoa!" Janna tried to ease up and accidentally sent the ship plummeting back toward the land pad. Seeing the ground rushing up to meet them caused her to jerk the stick back up in panic and the ship shot up again. Everyone on the ground ran for cover, not knowing if the ship was going to stay in the air or not.

Some of the lights on Tom's console turned red. "Janna, you're putting a lot of stress on the engines."

Janna let go of the stick and allowed it to neutral out. The ship slowed to a hover a hundred or so meters in the air and the lights slowly returned to green. "Okay," she said with a heavy exhale. "That was a little bit...touchier...than I was expecting."

Tom smirked teasingly as he searched for the landing gear control. "I thought that if you've flown one ship you've flown 'em all." Some bleeps that sounded like laughter came from PY-HD.

Janna glared but have no reply. "Okay, let's try that again. Pony, can you switch me over to thruster control please?" She placed her hands back on the control yoke and carefully advanced the ship forward, aiming spaceward. She kept the throttle to a moderate low pace as she got a feel for the controls. When they'd cleared Mewni's atmosphere, Janna relaxed her tight grip on the control stick. "I think I'm getting a feel for it now. Alright, Pony, plot us a course for Corellia."

The droid chittered in reply and began its work.

"So, I feel like I probably should have asked this earlier," said Tom, "I know you said you have a contact on Corellia, but what exactly is our plan once we get there?"

"Once we land, I'll try to get in touch with my old friend who I'm hoping is still there. If we're lucky, he'll be able to give us a lead on where to find the hyperdrives."

"Don't take this the wrong way, I'm just surprised...you have other friends besides me and Star and Marco?"

"Well...I haven't talked to him since the last time I was on Corellia years ago. Like I said, I don't even know if he's still there."

Tom was about to ask something else, but he was interrupted by PY-HD announcing that the navicomputer was programmed.

Janna flexed her fingers. "Sweet. Let's get going. Are we clear, Lucy?"

Tom checked his console. "We are clear to jump to lightspeed."

"Right on." Janna's hand found the hyperdrive lever. Unlike her YV-560, this ship only had one. "Here we go."

The stars stretched into streaks of light as the Type-B shuttle jumped to light speed.

* * *

Though he was confident that each step he took was solid, Marco still walked with a limp due to his metal prosthetic leg not having an ankle joint. He and Star strolled along hand-in-hand through the village, Butterfly Castle on the hill behind standing guard. The village was a bustle of activity as the inhabitants went about their daily business. Most were Mewmans, but there were a handful of other sentient species milling about among them. From what Marco could tell, Mewni's technological infrastructure was not exactly the most up-to-date. It was about on-par with a planet like Tatooine.

Unlike Tatooine, however, it was not overflowing with scum and villainy.

"This is a pretty cozy little town here," Marco said.

"Yeah, aside from the castle and Skywynne Base, Mewni is pretty quaint," Star replied. "But if I'm really thinking about it, I honestly prefer this to Coruscant." She pointed to a building just up the dirt road on which they walked. "That's where we're headed." The building was one of the largest in the village, and appeared to be a workshop of some kind. "Mewni's medical care isn't quite the best in the galaxy, so we can't get you one of those fancy prosthetics that will actually look like a real leg, but Ben is the best cybernetics builder on Mewni, and he can make you a replacement that will at least operate just as well as the original!"

They strolled up the walkway and knocked on the door, which flew open almost instantly to reveal a tiny green man with big pointy ears, a long pointy nose, and a huge mustache, wearing suspenders and a bow tie. "Well, hello there, youngin's! I'm Ben Fotino, cybernetic repair extraordinaire! What can I do ya fer?"

Star pushed Marco in front of her. "My friend Marco here needs a new leg!"

"Um, yeah," Marco said, nervously pulling up his left trouser leg to show Ben his current prosthetic. "My friend made this temporary one for me, but it doesn't have any joints and it's kinda heavy..."

Ben crouched down to check out the metal prosthetic and examine the end of Marco's existing leg. "Hmmm...this is a mighty fine bit of workmanship for a temporary replacement! But I can surely make you a cybertronical one if'n that's what ya want!" He waved for the teens to follow him inside. "C'mon in!"

"Thanks, Mr. Fotino!" Star said happily, ushering Marco in ahead of her.

"Uh, don't you mean 'Doctor Fotino'?" whispered Marco.

"I do not."

Marco froze on the spot as Fotino galavanted off through a doorway. "Wha-?! This guy isn't a doctor and you're gonna let him attach things to my body?"

Star was genuinely confused. "Marco, he's not operating on you. He's just adding some new pieces." She pushed him onward. "Now come on!"

Reluctantly shoved ahead against his will, Marco ventured into the little man's workshop. The room was large with a high ceiling, machinery lining the walls and an examination table in the center. Bits of metal stock, half-disassembled droids and boxes overflowing with miscellaneous wiring, connectors, servos, solenoids and sensors were strewn everywhere.

Ben suddenly appeared from behind a metal desk that had had its legs cut off to bring it down to his height. He wore a mask over his eyes with two small telescopic cylinders extending out from where his eyes were underneath. The ends glowed red, and the eye pieces were constantly extending, retracting, and spinning to focus. "Hop up on the table there, sonny!"

Marco glanced nervously at Star, but she just pushed him closer to the table. "Up you go!"

Marco groaned and slowly raised himself up onto the end of the examination table. Fotino hopped up on the table beside him and roughly pushed him so that he was lying down flat.

"Alright, let's have us a little look-see at that leg o' yers." He rolled up the leg of Marco's trouser leg above the knee. "Huh."

"What? What's 'huh?'?"

"Now how in the world is this here thing attached to you?"

"That's...actually a question I'd like to have the answer to myself," Marco said. "My friend who made it put it on me while I was asleep, and when I asked why she didn't wait until I woke up, she said that if I knew how it was attached, I'd be glad I was sleeping."

"Hmm...interestin'. Hang on a minute, lemme put my spectacles in x-ray mode." He fiddled with something on the side of the goggles and the glowing ends of the eye pieces shifted from red to white. "Hmmm..." The little man leaned down close to the spot where Marco's leg transitioned from skin to metal. "Ohhhhh, I see. Very clever!"

"What?" Marco asked, looking nervously at Star again.

Ben stood up and switched his goggles back to their previous setting, chuckling to himself. "Yup, you definitely don't want to know how that there leg is stuck on ya'. It's genius, though. Ain't no way that's ever coming off." He laughed again. "I reckon I can build ya somethin' that'll use that anchor point so it doesn't have to be taken out again."

"Um...cool?"

Ben pushed the goggles up on top of his head. "I can surely build yer new leg, but I gotta know, what's your budget like?"

Marco had been dreading that question. He reached his hand into his pocket, his fingers grazing the last few credit chips he had to his name, but Star spoke up before he even had a chance to pull them out.

"Budget-shmudget! Consider this a contracted assignment from the royal family. It doesn't matter what it costs, you will be very well compensated," she said, trying to make it sound as impressive as possible. "Just build Marco here the best cybernetic leg you can!"

Ben's eyes lit up. "Well, slap my sides and call me a womp rat! Been a while since I've had anyone say anything other than 'build me the cheapest thing you can.' I'll take some measurements and get right on it!"

Star folded her arms and winked at her best friend. While Marco was very grateful that finances would not be an issue, he still had some qualms about letting the strange little man attach things to his nervous system.

"That oughta rightly do it!" Ben said when he had taken all the measurements he required. "If ya'll give me yer comm frequency, I'll give ya'll a ring when your new leg is ready for installation."

"'Installation,'" Marco repeated. Fotino's word choice unnerved him slightly.

Star gave Ben her comm frequency and they bid the little man goodbye. Marco could not vacate the workshop fast enough.

* * *

They strolled back home the same way they had come, hand-in-hand, just as before. When they returned to Butterfly Castle, they found Manfred, the Head Royal Servant, waiting for them at the door as they came up the walk.

"Hey, Manfred!" Star called out.

"M'lady," Manfred began, ignoring Star's greeting, "Queen Moon has instructed me to inform you that she has had to make an unscheduled trip to a city in Mewni's south-eastern hemisphere and will not return until this evening."

"Oh. Okay." Turning to Marco, Star thought hard. "Well, it's too early for lunch. Want a tour of the whole castle?"

"Sure! Sounds like fun! As long as I don't have to climb too many stairs."

"Deal!"

So Star took Marco on a tour of the castle. She took him all the way down to the sub-basement and re-introduced him to Sir Lavabo. (Marco had met him when the Knight of the Wash had delivered his dinner suit the previous evening.) She took him into the kitchen, and toured all of the private living quarters. They briefly passed through Queen Moon's office, and all of the guest chambers. All along the way, there were portraits, tapestries and busts to stop and admire. The castle was centuries old and had only been semi-updated, still retaining a very old-fashioned look.

"Wow, Star. This place is incredible!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Here, there's one last room to check out! Since I don't know how long it will be before Mr. Fotino is finished with your new leg, I bet you'll be able to kill some time in here."

"Why, what is it?"

Star smiled. "You'll see!"

They reached a set of ornately carved doors of a rich, dark wood at the end of the hall. They swung on hinges instead of sliding into the wall, with shiny bronze hardware that granted access to the room they guarded.

With a playful over-exaggerated flourish of her arm, Star pushed open the door. "Behold! The Butterfly Family Library!"

Anyone who knew Marco was aware that, for all of the years that he had lived at the Jedi Temple, there was no place he enjoyed being more than the Temple library. The massive library was considered to be the greatest collection of knowledge anywhere in the galaxy, and many long hours were spent by the young Padawan pouring over stacks of holobooks, fascinated by the history of the Jedi Order.

But even the great Jedi Library could not hold a torch to the splendor of the Butterfly Family Library.

The room had two levels, though was not exceptionally deep or wide. Sure, the Jedi Library was easily one hundred times larger, but it could not match the coziness of this room, with its dark wood paneling, hand carved shelves, and a perfect nook containing deep armchairs for relaxed reading off in the left corner.

Marco's eyes gleamed. "Wow...it's beautiful!"

Star chuckled. "I thought you'd like it." She watched as Marco clanked every-other-step on his way over to nearest bookshelf. The variety of literature crossed centuries, from modern holobooks to leather-bound tomes of physical flimsiplast pages.

Marco was enchanted. "This is the coolest library I've ever seen!"

"Yeah, if you like libraries, it's pretty cool." Star waved for Marco to follow her. "But let me show you the coolest thing in here."

In the center of the room just before the first book shelf, a raised podium held a single book. The volume was massive, almost as thick as Marco's head, and, were it standing on end on the floor, would easily come up to his waist. Various pieces of flimsiplast stuck out from between the pages, and while the cover displayed no text, it was adorned with an unidentifiable illustration that looked to Marco like a pair of diamonds inside of a numeral 8.

"This is the coolest book in the whole library!" Star proclaimed. "It's basically the entire history of civilization on Mewni, written by every single Queen...and, you know, Princess before they became Queen."

"Does that mean you've written in it, too?"

"Yup! It's been passed down from Queen to Princess for hundreds of years, so its actually mine. Officially, it was given to me on my fourteenth birthday." Star turned slightly somber. "That's actually the last time I was here. I didn't have time to write much in it before I left, and I couldn't take it with me to Coruscant, so my chapter is basically about one page."

"Am I allowed to look in it?"

"Technically you're not, but I'm a Princess and I can do what I want, and you're my best friend, so be my guest!"

"Cool!" Marco reached for the cover, but abruptly stopped as a strange sound reached his ears. "Uh, Star?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this book...?" He leaned closer to the thick cover. "...Snoring?"

"Whaaaaaaaa...?" Star listened closely, leaning down until her ear was nearly touching the cover of the book. Despite the improbability of it, the book did indeed sound like it was snoring. "I don't think it should be doing that."

She found a slight bulge between the pages midway through the book and carefully spread it with her finger tips, flipping the front half of the book open to its location.

The two Padawans' mouths hung open in surprise. There, lying sprawled out on the flimsiplast, was a little blue man with a long white beard, sawing logs as he napped.

**Yup. Glossaryck is here, too. **

**So apparently the core 4 characters here are 17 years old. I wasn't really intending on that being the case, I was actually trying to purposefully not specify how old they are, but Star said the last time she was on Mewni was on her 14th birthday and that was three years ago, so...17. Which I personally don't think makes all that much of a difference appearance or personality-wise. It may account for Star being a little bit less silly than usual. I feel like her silliness decreased somewhat over the course of the series, anyway, and, you know, put that character in the Star Wars universe and train her as a Jedi Padawan...you're probably not going to end up with****_exactly _****the same personality, anyway. **

**...I said "anyway" twice. **

**Gonna try something that my personal favorite fanfiction author used to do with his running series that I always really enjoyed: If you leave a review on this chapter, you'll get a few paragraphs's excerpt from a random place in the next chapter. (Make sure you're logged in, I can't send you a preview if you don't have an account for me to send it to.) I will continue doing this with future chapters, as well, but I'm only mentioning it once here.**


	24. The Jedi in the Library

**I'm using an element or two from the new video game ****_Jedi: Fallen Order _****(best title ever) in this chapter, a game which is considered canon, while at the same time making some major deviations from canon, but I'm still adhering to all the movies and tv shows, so I'm only deviating from books and comics and such.**

**Also, just a reminder from my author's note many, many chapters ago, Eclipsa is Moon's sister (Star's Aunt) in this story because it's just easier that way. She *was* also the Senator representing Mewni in the Galactic Senate.**

**Also also: ****_Rise of Skywalker _****kinda stole some of my ideas for...things that haven't happened in this story yet...so I can't exactly do anything about it. But it's also kind of too late to change the direction of the story...because it kind of starts actually taking shape in this chapter. So if the story reaches a certain point and you think to yourself "Dude, you just copied that from ****_Rise of Skywalker_****." No, no I did not. Mr. Abrams and I just both had the same ideas.**

**Okay, super long author's note out of the way, here we go. **

The two Padawans could barely believe their eyes, silently staring dumbstruck as they watched the tiny blue man sleeping soundly on the pages of the book. After a moment, though, he stirred slightly, stretching his arms and legs and yawning before opening his eyes. He was quite surprised to find two teenagers five or six times his size staring back at him.

"Oh. Hello there."

Still staring wide-eyed, Star hesitantly raised one hand in greeting. "'Sup."

Another moment of awkward silence passed.

"Is, uh...is there a problem?" asked the little man.

"Just...wondering why you're sleeping in my book," Star said.

The little blue man's eyes widened. "Ohhh, _your _book? You must be Princess Star!"

"...Yeeeeesss?"

He hopped to his feet. "Pleased to finally meet you, your Highness! I am Sir Glossaryck Of Terms," he said with a flourishing bow. "I am the guardian of this book, and I-" The little blue man suddenly froze, his eyes squinting at the Padawans standing before him. "Hm?"

He walked slowly over to Star, staring hard at her while she watched him, confused. "Uh...why are you looking at me like that?"

Ignoring her question, he suddenly took a flying leap and landed on her left shoulder. "Oh!" He placed a palm on her cheek, right on the heart-shaped mark that resided there. "Not sure what's going on here..." Star muttered as Marco watched with equal confusion.

"Shhhhh," Glossaryck shushed.

"Oh. Okay."

For a moment, the tiny blue man stood silently with his eyes closed, breathing steadily. Then he abruptly broke his stance and jumped up atop Star's head, causing her to squeak in surprise. He bent down on all fours and inhaled deeply.

"Are you sniffing my hair?!" Star asked, feeling quite creeped out.

Glossaryck did not reply. He leapt from Star's head to Marco's and the male Padawan cringed, frozen to the spot and afraid to move as Glossaryck bent down and aggressively smelled Marco, as well.

"Hmm..." he mused to himself as he stood up. Tapping his foot on Marco's head, the little blue man appeared to be deep in thought. Then, seemingly satisfied, he jumped back down onto the open pages of the book in which he had been sleeping.

"Hmm..." he said again. "Interesting."

"What? What's interesting?" Marco asked.

Glossaryck waved his hands dismissively. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Don't even worry about it. As I was saying, I am Sir Glossaryck Of Terms, guardian of the book, at your service, M'lady."

The Padawans exchanged a look of even further confusion, neither sure how to react to the strange inspection they seemed to have just undergone. Star turned back to Glossaryck and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't remember you being in this book last time I was on Mewni, when I actually wrote in this thing. And I don't remember my mom telling me that there was a guardian."

"That is usually tradition. The Queen doesn't tell the Princess I'm here so I can give the new keeper of the book a good surprise, usually on the third or fourth time they actually open it. That's how it's been for centuries, in fact, since the very first Queen of Mewni gave the book to her daughter." Glossaryck jumped into the air, crossed his legs beneath him, and then floated up to their eye level.

"Whoa! You can fly?!" Marco exclaimed.

Glossaryck laughed. "Of course not! Don't be ridiculous! I am simply floating on the Force."

Marco's eyes about popped out of his head. "The Force?!"

Star finished his train of thought, asking, "You're a Jedi?"

Glossaryck tipped his palm back and forth. "Ehhh...sort of."

"'Sort of'?"

Glossaryck stroked his beard thoughtfully. "More like 'not really'."

Marco frowned. "How can you 'sort of, not really' be a Jedi?"

The little blue man arched his eyebrows teasingly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Uh, yeah, that's why I asked," Marco said, becoming slightly annoyed by all the back and forth.

Glossaryck rocked to and fro as if he were on an invisible swing, enjoying antagonizing the two kids who had interrupted his nap. "Fine, I'll tell you," he chuckled. "I was trained as a Jedi a long, lonnnng time ago, when I was but a few thousand years old, but I left the Order after seventy years or so because I felt like the Jedi were becoming too...erm...political? I always thought the Jedi should be more like servants of the Force, not servants of the Republic. So I came back home to Mewni and went back to living in this book again."

"Wait, a few _thousand years_ old?" Marco asked. "How old are you?"

"Don't you know that's a very rude question to ask?" Glossaryck winked. "Really, really, really old. I was born here. I was here when the first Queen Of Mewni was crowned. I had already become a master of the Force back then, but we didn't even know the Jedi existed. Mostly because they didn't yet," he said with a laugh. "We called the Force 'Life-Wind' because that's-what the Zeffo called it."

"Zeffo?" Star wondered aloud.

"An ancient race of Force-wielders, not important. Because I was the only Force-user the ancient Mewmans had ever seen, I was heralded as a God, and became a royal advisor to the Queen. I was the royal advisor for the first dozen or so rulers of Mewni. Maybe two dozen. I don't know, it was a really long time ago, I can't remember every little detail!"

Still floating in the air, Glossaryck flipped over, pretending to lie on his back as he dangled his legs in the air. "Eventually, the Jedi came into being. One of them visited this world, found me and convinced me to return with him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant so that I could be 'trained.'" He made sarcasm-laden air quotes with his fingers. "I ended up teaching _them_ far more than they taught me," he said with a chuckle. "But, soon enough, I came to realize that the Jedi existed to serve and protect the Republic, and at the time, Mewni was not even a part of the Republic. Well, the 'Old Republic' now. Like I said, I felt like the Jedi should be servants of the Force, and I wasn't a big fan of all of their rules and codes and such."

"Neither was I!" Star said. "Look at us! Only known each other five minutes and we're already thinking alike!"

She earned another chuckle from Glossaryck before he went on. "I like you already, Princess. So I left the Order and came back here. I mean literally right back here. To living inside this book." He pointed to the tome in question beneath him.

"Why exactly do you live inside a book?" Marco asked. "Why not just live...you know...in a room? There's plenty of them in this place."

"Who are you to judge? Have you ever lived inside a book? It's very cozy."

"Um...okay then."

Glossaryck flipped himself back right side up again. "So, Princess, what's the Jedi Temple like now? Is that horrible statue out in the courtyard still there?"

Star and Marco glanced at each other nervously. "Um..." Star hesitated. "When was the last time you...got news? From, you know, outside the book?"

"Oh, you know, your mom checks up on me every couple of months. She hasn't been in here in a while, though. Why do you ask?"

"Well...because...the Chancellor...kinda...turned out to a be Sith Lord? And he...kinda ordered all of the Jedi...you know...executed."

Glossaryck's jovial expression vanished. "...The Jedi...are gone?"

The two Padawans nodded sadly.

"Oh...wow...And a Sith Lord, too, huh? Guess that whole 'Chosen One' prophecy didn't pan out like I thought it would."

Marco massaged his upper arm much the same way Glossaryck currently was doing to his head. "Yeah, not so much. The guy everyone thought was the Chosen One sorta joined the Chancellor and-"

"Hold on, wait." Star interrupted. "Like _you _thought it would?"

Glossaryck shrugged. "Sure. 'A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored.' Where do you think that prophecy came from? It came from me. I prophesied it back when I was a Jedi."

"Get outta town!" Marco exclaimed in shock. "That was you?!"

"Sure was! But I guess I was wrong. Well, or else Qui-Gon was wrong."

"Qui-Gon Jinn?" Marco's surprised exclamations were coming with the frequency of shots from a Z-6 rotary blaster canon. "You knew him?"

Star was puzzled. "Who's Qui-Gon Jinn?"

"He trained Master Kenobi," Marco explained. "But how did you know him? You said you haven't been to the Jedi Temple in centuries."

"Because he was from here," Glossaryck answered. "Qui-Gon Jinn was a Mewman."

This time both Padawans chorused their shock._ "He was?"_

"He was." Glossaryck's eyes shimmered as he reminisced. "Qui-Gon was my best friend. The only Jedi I ever met who shared my views of the Force. He was very interested in my ability to prophecy the future through the Force. Like, really interested. He had hoped to learn how to do it himself, but it's not something that can be taught. I don't even really know how I do it. It just sort of happens from time to time." Wistfully stroking his beard, Glossaryck looked up at the ceiling as he reminisced. "I remember when he found young Anakin Skywalker, he sent me a coded communicate in a cypher he and I had invented ourselves, excitedly telling me he had found the Chosen One." He sadly shook his head. "I sent him a message back, but I don't think he ever received it."

"What makes you think that?" Star asked.

Glossaryck gestured at Marco. "This know-it-all here probably knows."

"Uh...yeah." The young Padawan felt a bit embarrassed by Glossaryck's comment. "Master Qui-Gon Jinn was, uh...killed by Darth Maul on Naboo, back before the Clone War, not long after he found Master Skywalker as a boy. I think we were like four years old at the time," he told Star.

"Then how do you know?"

"...Because I read things? You know, the whole reason you brought me to the library?"

"Ohhhh, right, right, right."

"Did you ever have any other prophecies?" Marco asked Glossaryck.

The little blue man floated back down to the book. His eyes nervously turned toward the ceiling. "Um, well..."

But before Glossaryck could give an answer, the door to the library flew open, revealing King River.

"Star! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

The Padawans whirled around, spotting the frantic expression on the King's face. "Dad! Is everything okay?"

River's answer matched his expression in tone. "Eclipsa is here!"

"Aunt Eclipsa is here?!"

"Yes. And she is...not well."

Star grabbed Marco by the hood of his sweatshirt and dragged him along behind her. "C'mon, Marco!"

"Gak!" Marco gagged as his collar choked him. "Choking! Choking!"

"Senator Eclipsa?" Glossaryck said to no one in particular. "I always liked her. I'm coming, too!" And he floated along behind the others as they hastily vacated the library.

* * *

Moon stood in the Skywynne Airbase medical bay, watching from a few paces away as the medical droid did a full examination of her sister. General Bulgolyubov stood beside her, nervously clutching the senator's wide-brimmed hat.

Eclipsa Butterfly lay on the examination table, a respirator mask covering her nose and mouth. Her breathing was slow and shallow, her eyes fluttering as she fought to stay conscious.

The med bay door slid open, and Star, Marco, and King River hurried in. Glossaryck was riding in Marco's hood, though no one took any notice that he was present. When the Princess caught sight of her Aunt on the examination table, her eyes went wide, and her heart dropped into her stomach. "Aunt Eclipsa! Oh my gosh! Mom, what happened?"

"We aren't yet sure," the Queen replied. "She hasn't been coherent enough to tell us. She landed her ship here at the base, but she must have passed out just after touching down."

"I boarded her ship," Buff Frog explained, "because I thought it was taking very long time for her to exit. I find her still in pilot's seat, slumped over on controls."

River stepped up beside his wife. "How is she?" he asked the medical droid.

_"She is severely dehydrated," _the droid explained in its synthetic voice. _"Her sodium, potassium, and electrolyte levels are also extremely low. I am administering an IV drip to restore her essential fluid levels. The best thing for her now is to rest." _The droid pointed to Eclipsa's left side. The senator's dress appeared burned and slightly torn just about at her midsection. _"She also appears to have a blaster wound just below her rib_ _cage. Fortunately, it does not appear to have damaged anything vital internally. I will apply a bacta patch that should be more than sufficient to heal the damage."_

Star made her way over to the side of the examination table, Glossaryck floating out of Marco's hood and hovering over her left shoulder. "Oh, Aunt Eclipsa..." The Senator looked at Star through her half-open eyes, too weak to reply to her niece. "What happened to you?"

Eclipsa slowly blinked, her muted violet eyes conveying sorrow, fear, remorse, but too weak to verbally express any of it.

River placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "She'll be fine, Star. We should leave so that the medical droid can do its job. And allow Eclipsa a chance to rest."

Star swallowed. "Yeah...you're right, Dad."

She took one last look at her aunt before slowly following her dad out of the room, Marco and Buff Frog silently falling in behind them.

Moon didn't move. Glossaryck also remained, still floating where he had been above Star's shoulder, now somewhat in the medical droid's way. Eclipsa relaxed her head, closing her eyes. In a few moments, she finally succumbed to exhaustion and passed out.

"Um, Honey?" River called, poking his head back into the room. "I did sort of mean..._all_ of us."

The Queen just stared at her sister on the examination table. "Take the children back to the castle, dear," she said softly, never averting her eyes. "I'll be along shortly."

The King sighed. "Alright, dear."

After he left, the medical droid went into an adjoining room for supplies, leaving Eclipsa alone with Moon and Glossaryck for a few moments. The little blue man floated down onto the table beside the Senator's head, gently lying his hand upon her cheek as he had done to Star earlier. "Her life force is still strong, my liege," he said. "Her body may be physically weak, but her spirit is unbroken. She will recover. Don't worry."

Moon nodded. "I'm not worried about that. I know Eclipsa is very strong-willed. It'll take more than exhaustion, dehydration, and a blaster wound to take her out." She sighed. "I'm just terrified to find out what happened to her." She pointed to Eclipsa's hip. "Because of _that_!" she whispered.

Glossaryck looked to see what the Queen was referring to. There, barely sticking out of the pocket of Eclipsa's dress, was the emitter end of a lightsaber.

* * *

PY-HD bleeped an announcement, which Captain Ordonia repeated aloud.

"We're coming up on Corellia. Preparing to drop out of hyperspace."

"Roger-doger," Tom said, flicking a few control switches to prepare the ship for Real Space.

Janna pulled back the hyperdrive lever and the _Sheathipede-_class Type-B shuttle dropped out of hyperspace several dozen klicks from the planet's surface. Janna's eyes about popped out of her head. "Whoaaaa."

Tom concurred her sense of awe. "I know this is a ship-building planet, but...wow!"

Everywhere they looked, small craft ferrying droids and beings in pressure suits attended to massive wedge-shaped ships in various states of construction, silently floating in space.

Star Destroyers.

There were not many things that could make Janna Ordonia speechless. The sight of so many Imperial ships, though, had her completely awestruck.

"That...is a _lot_ of ships."

"Yeah...no kidding. A lot, a looooot of ships," Tom agreed, his own three eyes just as big as Janna's.

"Let's do our best to keep a low profile, huh?" Janna replied, throttling down the engines.

"Yeah..." Tom watched as they passed beneath the hull of the Star Destroyer that was the furthest out in the rings of the ship yard. "No argument here."

The shuttle attracted very little attention, just as Buff Frog had promised, appearing not at all like a former military vessel with its fresh red paint. Following the proper channels mapped out by beacon markers, they wove in and out of the ships and equipment floating in space as they drew nearer to the planet. They gawked at the sheer number of Imperial ships being built, pilot and copilot at a complete loss for words. Eventually, PY-HD squeaked as the public spaceport on the surface asked for identification codes.

"Right," Tom said, snapping out of his awed trance. His eyes scanned the controls, looking for the inputs he needed. "Uh, let's see...here we go. Transmitting codes now."

"Let's not waste any time once we land, okay?" Janna said. "As if I needed another reason to not want to spend a lot of time here."

"Another reason?" This struck Tom as odd. "I thought you'd love to be in a place like Corellia. You know, considering the _Raventalon _was built here and you love your ship and..."

"No," Janna said curtly as they began descending through Corellia's upper atmosphere. "I hate this place."

"Really? Why?"

Janna turned on the inertial dampers and answered dryly without averting her eyes from the forward viewscreen. "I don't want to talk about it."

**Next: Corellia**

**I kind of hate the Force-healing ability that was in ****_Rise of Skywalker_****, too. I don't hate that it exists in the context of the films, but I do hate it in the context of this story. It seems like the kind of thing Glossaryck should be able to do, but if he could, it would completely eliminate all of the gravitas of the above scene in the medical bay.**

**Look, I'm not one of those people who hates the sequel trilogy. I love it. Especially ****_Rise of Skywalker_****. It's just that it's existence kind of screws up my story here...kind of a lot.**


	25. Corellia

**Before we get into this chapter, I would just like to remind everyone that this is a fan****_fiction_****, not a fan****_fact. _****While I am conducting a lot of research and doing my absolute best to make this as accurate and as authentically "Star Wars" as possible, I am not a Star Wars expert by any stretch. I am going to get some things wrong here and there. Plus, as I have stated before, I am only adhering to the eleven theatrical films and two canon animated series. Outside of that, and I am not even attempting to make this story fit in with the canonical events of the time gap between Episode III and Solo/Rogue One. I am purposely and consciously changing a lot of things, both in an attempt to mesh SVTFOE and Star Wars as naturally as I can, and, more importantly, be able to tell the story that I want to tell regardless of accuracy. Sometimes things just don't fit.**

**Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it. **

The inquisitor impatiently tapped its foot. "This is such a waste of my time and talents. Relegated to chasing after some puny teenagers that are probably already dead instead of hunting down experienced Jedi."

Security Officer Rosado did not avert his eyes from his datapad, which was plugged into a wall-mounted computer terminal. "I don't disagree with you, Inquisitor. But it's the assignment we've been given." He was trying his best to focus on the on-screen text as throngs of beings milled about around them. The spaceport was packed to the brim with people looking for passage off of the planet, mixed in with a handful of new arrivals seeking employment with the shipyard magnates. "Me personally, I'm just fine with it."

The inquisitor leaned back against the wall, folding its arms. "Yeah, why's that?"

"Because, if they are dead, and we can't ever find them, then we won't ever be on an assignment that actually might get us killed!" Rosado said happily.

"Unless Lord Vader or the Emperor Force-chokes you for failing."

That sent a shiver up Rosado's spine. "Fair enough." He went back to skimming the list on his datapad. "Well, there's no evidence of any YV-560 or ship registered to Lucy Lucille Lucitor ever docking at this spaceport."

"Big surprise," said the inquisitor. "Just like the last three spaceports we checked."

Rosado unplugged his datapad and returned the device to the carry bag slung over his shoulder. "That doesn't mean it isn't here. We've still got a dozen more to check, plus a whole bunch of repair shops."

"Wonderful."

Though the helmet hid the inquisitor's features from view, Rosado was positive that the being underneath, whoever it was, was rolling it's eyes. "Don't worry, Inquisitor. If that ship is or ever was here for repairs, we will find it!"

The inquisitor shook its head. "Let's just get a move on to the next spaceport."

As Security Officer Rosado followed after the disgruntled Inquisitor on their way out of the crowded building, a Clone Wars-era Separatist Type-B shuttle was just touching down on landing pad 19.

"Here we are. Corellia," Captain Ordonia announced dryly. "Fantastic. Power everything down."

"I'm on it," Tom replied, his fingers dancing over the control panel as he switched all systems to off. "Hey, Janna, just wondering out of curiosity, does this ship have, you know...weapons systems of any kind?"

"Nope," Janna answered very matter-of-factly as she stood up from the pilot's seat.

"Oh. Greaaat," Tom whispered to himself.

Janna took no notice. "Now that we're on the surface, I can send a coded message to my friend, who is hopefully still here." She grabbed her datapad from where she had stashed it behind the seat and ejected a memory chip. "Here, Pony, can you please broadcast this through the ship's transmitter? I'll give you the frequency once you've downloaded it."

The astromech bleeped affirmatively and accepted the chip as Janna pushed it into the droid's card slot. Then it rolled over to the console and plugged in.

"So who's this friend of yours?" Tom asked.

Janna seemed to be avoiding looking in Tom's direction as she returned to the pilot's seat. "Just someone I knew. A long time ago." Her tone was a strange mixture of annoyed and wistful. She didn't elaborate any further, and Tom thought it wise not to pry.

"Well, I'm hungry," Tom said, standing up. "I'm gonna see if I can find something to eat on board."

A response did not come immediately. Janna was staring out the viewscreen, her eyes fixated on some unknown object in the distance. Tom thought perhaps she was admiring one of the ships docked on one of the other landing pads and hadn't heard him. Just as he was about to ask her for a second time, she said, "Yeah, I could eat." She got back to her feet and exited through the cockpit doorway without ever looking in Tom's direction, pausing halfway to give PY-HD the comm frequency. "C'mon, Lucy. Pony, let me know if a message comes through.

PY-HD whistled an affirmative as pilot and copilot went about searching the rest of the ship for food.

The shuttle was a stretched version of the ubiquitous Separatist shuttle meant for cargo, not the transportation of passengers. And, since the _Sheathipede-_class ships were almost always operated by droid pilots, there was not much in the way of amenities on board. After a fair amount of searching, during which time Janna was uncharacteristically quiet, the pair found a box of supply bars in a storage compartment with the tool kit.

"More supply bars. Wonderful," Tom quipped, hoping to get some kind of response from Janna.

But his companion said nothing. She just ripped open the packaging and tore off a piece of the nonperishable foodstuff with her teeth as she trekked back to the cockpit.

_Something weird is going on with her,_ Tom thought. _And not, like, normal Janna weird, either._ He followed after her and found the Captain sitting in the pilot's chair, silently staring out the viewscreen again as she bit into her supply bar. "Janna?" Tom said slowly.

"What?" She still did not avert her eyes to look at him.

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Her words still hung on the same slightly annoyed tone, and Tom could tell that something was eating at her.

"I don't know. You just seem...I don't know...angry?" He slowly sank into the copilot's seat, carefully peeling open his supply bar wrapper. As he slowly took a bite, he watched as Janna shook her head slowly, an almost imperceivable amount, letting out a slight growl from her throat.

"I hate this place."

Tom froze mid-chew. "Um...okay?" He quickly swallowed what was in his mouth, not a simple task considering that it was only about halfway chewed. "Any...particular reason why? I would have thought that a planet like this where they build ships and such would feel like home to you."

Janna pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing at the people milling about outside the ship. "Yeah. Because it is my home."

"...What?"

"I grew up here." Janna viciously ripped off another bite of her supply bar, chewing with malice.

While the revelation answered Tom's question, it also left him with quite a few more. Most importantly among them, "Why do you hate it if you grew up here?" which he proceeded to ask aloud.

Janna's eyes lowered even more. After a few seconds, she finally said, "I don't want to talk about it."

And that was that. Tom knew from his best friend's tone that there was no point in prying further. Janna would say no more on the subject. So, he glanced out the viewscreen away from Janna as he quietly finished his supply bar and she finished hers.

When they were through with their meal, the smugglers sat in silence, Janna too annoyed simply by their location, Tom floating in the awkward stew of Janna's strange mood. For nearly an hour, neither said a word.

Tom passed the time by cleaning his blaster. His WESTAR-32 pistol was old, a long discontinued model from Concordian Crescent Technologies, but he kept it in perfect working order, the dallorian alloy always polished to a gleam. It was a very high-end model in its time, using expensive and often difficult to find gas cartridges that fired green energy bolts, still powerful even by current standards. Janna liked to make fun of him for "lugging that big antique canon around" but its weight was strangely comforting and Tom found it more accurate than many newer and less expensive models.

From time to time, Tom would glance over at Janna, mostly to make sure she was still there. The cockpit of the ship was so void of any type of noise save for his blaster-cleaning that, when he was not looking at Janna, for all he knew, she could have evaporated into the ether.

The awkward silence continued until PY-HD bleeped out that she had received an encrypted message from Janna's yet-to-be-identified friend. The Captain wasted no time in standing up and stepping over to the astromech. "Whatd'ya got for me, Pony?"

The droid ejected the memory chip it had been given earlier, which Janna took and shoved back into the slot on her datapad.

"Message from your friend?" Tom asked.

"Hang on. Decrypting it."

"Oh. Okay." He shifted his foot on the floor while he waited, not wanting to do anything that might annoy her further.

Janna's eyes remained locked on the screen of her datapad as she worked out the message. "Okay, I got it...he says he'll meet us in about two hours and sent us coordinates for a rendezvous." She checked the time readout on her chronometer. "It'll take us almost two hours to get there. We should get going." She waved for Tom to follow her, still refusing to look at him. "C'mon, Lucy, let's roll. You, too, Pony."

The droid squeaked in surprise.

"Yes, you, too. You've got all the technical readouts for the _Raventalon_. Besides, this isn't our ship, so I don't really care about leaving it unattended. Oh, and send my friend a reply message telling him that we will be there."

The droid twittered excitedly about being allowed to come along on this mission and hurried to send off the reply message. Janna meanwhile habitually checked her weapons as she always did before disembarking on a job, even if that job was her own. Inside her jacket, her DC-17 blaster pistols hung in their holsters at her sides. She extracted them both, checked that they were loaded, made sure they weren't jammed, double checked that both safeties were on, and slid them back into their holsters. Then she reached down to her belt, where Marco's lightsaber still hung. She unclipped it and held it up, Tom's three eyes going wide when he caught sight of it. He hadn't noticed that Janna still had it because her jacket partially obscured it.

"Uhhh...is that Marco's lightsaber?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Why do you still have it?"

For the first time since they'd arrived, Janna's mouth actually curved into a tiny mischievous smirk. "Because he never asked for it back." She held it out to PY-HD. "Here, Pony, hang onto this thing for me. Wouldn't want anyone to see it and think I'm a Jedi."

The droid opened up a small hatch in its dome, and Janna deposited the lightsaber inside.

Tom crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at Janna. "You know Marco will kill you if anything happens to that, right?"

"Nothing is going to happen to it. Pony Head's gonna hold onto it until we get back."

"...And then you'll give it back to Marco, right?"

"We'll see. C'mon, let's get going. And grab the credits from King River."

Tom shook his head as he grabbed the carrying case. For a moment there, Janna was acting more like herself, but he was still worried about her. He followed the Captain and PY-HD down the boarding ramp and retracted the ramp behind them.

The meeting location suggested by Janna's friend was in Coronet City, much too far away to walk. While the city did have a spaceport, it was under far too much Imperial security for the smugglers to risk attempting to fly and land there. The mag-lev subway would offer the easiest and quickest travel.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the subway station. Tom grasped the handle of the carrying case with a white-knuckled grip, terrified that someone would try to snatch it out of his hand. Reaching the station, Janna purchased train tickets, informing the droid clerk behind the blaster-proof glass that their destination would be Juni Street Station.

The pair of smugglers and their astromech took an elevator down below street level and climbed aboard the maglev, taking their seats in a dimly lit train car that was in need of a good cleaning. The maglev was crowded, so Tom and Janna were forced to sit very close to one another, their legs and sides touching as they squeezed in to make room for other passengers. Tom laid the carrying case across his lap, still clutching the handle tightly.

For the first five minutes of the journey, Janna continued to remain silent and refuse to look at Tom despite being squished up against him. The Demonicite was trying to decide if he should say something or just leave Janna be, when she unexpectedly spoke.

"I don't ever remember this train being so crowded."

Tom froze. He almost couldn't believe that Janna had spoken of her own volition. Perhaps this was his chance to try to draw Janna's emotions out. He had to be careful, and say just the right thing.

"No?"

Janna shook her head, speaking quietly so that no one, not even the overweight Phindian squished up against her, would hear. "I guess everyone is trying to get away from the Empire. Or they _are_ the Empire."

_This is good. She's actually talking. Don't say anything stupid... _"Janna...if Corellia is your home...why do you hate it so much?"

Janna's head slowly turned, her eyes meeting Tom's for the first time since they'd left Mewni. Her expression was somewhere between confusion and sadness, her eyes low. "My parents...died...when I was very young. We, uh...didn't exactly live in the best neighborhood. I ran away before anyone even showed up to...investigate. No one took me in...I ended up on the streets." She sadly shook her head. "I was just a helpless little kid...scared...hungry..."

Janna was only just beginning her story, and already, Tom was shocked. Janna had never once talked about her past and he knew almost nothing about her life before he met her.

"One day, this guy found me and brought me to this...lair, before Lady Proxima...that bi-"

_"Now arriving, Zucktha Yard_," announced the synthetic voice of the public address system, drowning out Janna's last word. She paused her story as the maglev slowed to a smooth stop and the automatic doors opened, allowing passengers to disembark and others to climb aboard.

"Who's Lady Proxima?" Tom whispered as the subway started off again.

Janna lowered her voice even more. "Proxima is the head of the White Worms."

Tom wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. "White...Worms? Worms, like the things that borrow through dirt?"

"That's what I said. It's a black market trading organization. ...Proxima is also kind of a literal worm herself. They like to pull runaway and homeless children off the street. Give 'em food and shelter in exchange for getting the kids to do their dirty work. No one ever suspects kids."

"And now they've just roped you into it, too."

"Yup. They made me a runner for off-world deliveries."

"Wait, hang on. Are you saying you learned to fly because a criminal organization wanted a little girl to make their illegal black market deliveries for them?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Lucy," Janna scoffed. "They made me a runner _because_ I knew how to fly. My dad taught me," she said wistfully. "Sat me on his lap behind the controls of his old F-328 Skyhawk."

"I thought you said the only ship you've ever flown was the _Raventalon_."

"The Skyhawk is an airspeeder, not a ship."

"Oh. Well, what about the ships you flew when you were making runs for the White Worms?"

"That _was _the _Raventalon_."

"Huh?"

"Just let me tell the story, Lucy."

"Right, right. Sorry."

Janna took a deep breath. "I started flying deliveries for Proxima when I was like eight years old. Wherever in the galaxy they needed a delivery made, I flew. They'd send an assassin droid with me both to be my copilot and to protect me from the people receiving whatever the ship was carrying, and to make sure I didn't try to run away."

_"Now arriving, Kor Vella City."_

For a second time, the maglev slowed to a stop. Janna paused her story while passengers around them shuffled off the train and more got on. PY-HD scooted back and forth to make room as people pushed past, bleeping indignantly as someone accidentally bonked her dome.

Soon enough, the train was on its way again, and Janna resumed her story. "I was stuck, with no way out of the White Worms' organization. They didn't take too kindly to anyone who wanted to leave the gang." She sighed. "Lost a couple good friends that way. So for a couple of years, I did what I was told as best as I could do it, terrified to step out of line for fear of what they might do to me if I disobeyed.

"Then one day, when I was twelve, I was out on a run...the job took a bad turn. The buyers decided that they didn't want to pay for the shipment and would rather just kill the dumb little kid flying and destroy the assassin droid protecting me." Janna gave a little chuckle. "Well, they completely underestimated that droid. Or way overestimated their own abilities."

"Ohhhh, boy," Tom said. "I already see where this is going."

Janna nodded. "It was quick. Firefight only lasted a few minutes. That assassin droid killed every last one of those traitors. Buuuut it also took a lot of damage itself."

Janna paused for a moment to look out the window on the opposite side of the train. Some tugs were hoisting the skeletal frame of yet another Star Destroyer out of the ship yard in the distance, making room for construction to begin on another.

"I saw my chance. It was leaking hydraulic fluid badly and it could barely move its arms. I grabbed a blaster that was lying on the ground and fired until the droid stopped moving."

She stopped again, breathing deep and steady. Her heart was pounding. It hadn't beat like that since...well, since the events of the story she was currently telling. She did give a slight chuckle, however. "Probably a good thing that they didn't build assassin droids with the manufacturer's self-destruct protocol or I probably would have gotten myself blown up."

Another few moments of silence.

"And then?" Tom asked.

Janna shrugged, her words flying out of her mouth disinterestedly. "Got on the ship and left. Sold the cargo to someone else and kept the profits. Renamed the ship _Raventalon_. Never went back to Corellia. Disappeared for awhile somewhere I knew the White Worms would never look for me. Starting doing my own smuggling and setting aside a portion of the profits until I had saved enough credits to cover what the White Worms were expecting from the job I ran away on. Hired a droid courier to take the credits to them that had zero knowledge of who I am or where I was. As far as I was concerned, we were square, and I never heard from them again."

PY-HD bleeped something indignantly.

"Oh, yeah, right," Janna added. "Pony here belonged to that gang that turned on me and my assassin droid, and I took her along with me when I bolted."

Tom wrapped his fingers around his right horn and held his arm there. "Wow, Janna...I had no idea."

"Yeah, I know. I don't like to talk about it."

Tom blinked, frowning. "Then why now?"

Janna slowly shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe because..."

Her voice trailed off and she left the sentence hanging. Several minutes passed. Tom was not about to pry and ask her more. He was still processing her story himself. But then, much to his surprise, she spoke.

"You said I was emotionless. I guess that kinda bothered me. For some reason. I'm honestly surprised it did. Well...I'm not emotionless. It's just...I've seen things."

Suddenly feeling incredibly guilty, Tom rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, Janna...I'm...I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She looked away from him again. "It's not like you had any way of knowing."

Tom slumped back in his seat. He could think of nothing more to say.

The two smugglers spent the rest of the trip on the maglev subway riding in silence. Eventually, the automated voice of the public address system announced their destination.

_"Now arriving: Juni Street Station."_

* * *

Eclipsa sat in a bed in the otherwise empty infirmary at Skywynne Airbase slowly sipping a cup of tea. It had taken quite a bit of IV fluid to restore her essential nutrient levels and a significant amount of rest, but at last her strength was returning.

Eclipsa turned her head at the sound of the infirmary door sliding open, expecting to see the medical droid shuffling in to check on her. Instead, a very excited pair of teenage Jedi Padawans came running toward her.

"Aunt Eclipsa!" they yelled in unison.

"Star! Marco!" She set her tea down on the small end table beside her just a split second before her niece dove onto the bed, wrapping her aunt in a big hug. Marco hugged her from beside the bed, and Eclipsa threw her arms around both of them. "Oh, children! I am so happy to see you!"

"We're glad to see you, too," Marco said.

Joyous tears formed in the corners of Eclipsa's eyes. "When I heard about the attack on the Jedi Temple, I thought for sure you were dead!"

Star laughed. "We almost were, Aunt Eclipsa! We almost were!"

Queen Moon and King River entered the infirmary a moment later, having chosen to withhold their excited urgency for the sake of their royal appearance. The group hug broke apart and Eclipsa's eyes met Moon's. "Hello, Sis," she whispered happily.

The Queen's eyes glistened with relief that her sister was alright. She smiled as she stepped closer to the hospital bed, Star and Marco parting to allow her passage. "Eclipsa...I am so glad that you are here. I was so worried about you." And then, much to Star's complete surprise, her mother gave Eclipsa a big hug.

Star sniffled a little.

"You okay?" Marco asked.

"Yeah," she answered, wiping her eyes. "It's just...I can't believe we're all here together. You and my parents and Aunt Eclipsa...after everything that we've been through...I never would have imagined we could all be together like this." And she glanced over at her father.

River smiled. "It is rather amazing, is it not? The universe sure works in mysterious ways sometimes."

The royal sisters ended their embrace, and Eclipsa chuckled. "The five of us have never actually been together all in one place before. Amazing that it took a tragedy like a Sith Lord forcefully taking over the galaxy for it to happen. By the way - this is completely changing the subject - does anybody know where that metal clanking sound is coming from?"

Glossaryck suddenly popped up from beneath Eclipsa's pillow. "Yeah, what is all that racket out there? I was taking a nap."

"Oh, there you are!" Star exclaimed. "See, Marco, I told you he must have stayed with Eclipsa."

Marco gave a nervous laugh. "The clanking noise is me." He pulled up the leg of his trouser so that Eclipsa could see the durasteel prosthetic Janna had constructed for him.

"Oh, my!" Eclipsa gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Marco! What happened?"

"It's a long story-" Marco began.

"And there will be time to tell it later," Moon said, cutting him off. "But Eclipsa, I must know. What happened to you? You nearly crashed your ship landing here and when Buff Frog found you, you were already unconscious!"

"And you had a blaster wound!" Star threw in.

"Yeah, what happened to you?" Marco asked.

Glossaryck floated up into the air, hovering right in Eclipsa's line of sight. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you that myself."

Eclipsa sighed. "It's definitely not a story I'd particularly like to relive, but I will tell you. I will admit, it is probably a rather gripping adventure."

And so, as her family (and Marco) (And also Glossaryck) listened with rapt attention, Eclipsa explained what had happened to her since the night of Order 66.

**Next: Eclipsa's Story**


	26. Eclipsa's Story

Ignoring the growling of her stomach, Eclipsa pushed the hyperdrive lever back up against its stop, dropping the _Meteora _out of hyperspace. The lush, green forest moon of Endor lay beyond the viewscreen, the surrounding space as far as she could see void of any other spacecraft.

"Alright, let's find Shri'gaa Outpost," she whispered to herself. "And hope Master Rhombulus...and some food...are waiting for me."

Steering the LA-3500x "SkyCruiser" yacht toward the moon's northern hemisphere, she flipped her comms transmitter to an open short-range frequency so that it would not be received by anyone off of the moon's surface. "This is 'Lost Moth,'" she said, using the code name Rhombulus had given her in his message, "calling Shri'gaa Outpost. Does anyone read me?"

She waited for a few moments, but there was no reply.

"This is 'Lost Moth' calling Shri'gaa Outpost on Endor. Is anybody receiving me?"

Silence.

"Hmm." Eclipsa wondered if perhaps her transmitter was malfunctioning and checked the signal, but it seemed to be broadcasting properly. "Perhaps the problem is on their end. They must not be receiving me."

Still wary that something was amiss, Eclipsa guided the _Meteora _in cautiously, prepared to turn and flee in case of danger. (Not that she would get very far. Her fuel readout was flashing emergency red.)

And then, as she descended out of the clouds, Shri'gaa Outpost came into view in the light of the mid-afternoon sun.

It was completely decimated.

"Oh, my!"

Every single one of the outpost's buildings had been burned, the remnants of their wooden structures partially collapsed and smoldering. Small fires still burned here and there amongst the rubble. As the_Meteora _drew closer, Eclipsa caught sight of the corpses. They lay where they had fallen, strewn about in the dirt streets.

The Senator was speechless, not believing her eyes. She wanted to turn around and escape this outpost-turned-graveyard, but her fuel indicator showed that she only had enough to stay in the air for another two minutes or so before the reactor became fuel-starved and stalled.

Beyond the trees surrounding the outpost, a clearing served as a landing field, and the outlines of a half-dozen small and medium sized ships were clearly visible in the fading light. Perhaps there would be a ship there that had enough power for her to get off-world again. That tiny spark of hope in Eclipsa's heart died out as she passed over the trees. Every ship in the field had been systematically destroyed, appearing to have had explosives set off inside their cabins.

With no fuel left to remain in the air, Eclipsa lowered the landing gear and gently set the _Meteora_ down in the landing field. After powering everything down, Eclipsa held her head in her hands, consumed by a feeling of despair. "Oh, dear...what am I to do now?" Overwhelmed by the hopeless nature of her situation, a few tears slipped from Eclipsa's eyes, splashing onto the control panel. When she had composed herself once more, she looked out the viewscreen again at the destroyed ships outside.

"Well...I am rightly stuck here now. I suppose I might as well go have a look around and see if I can find anything that could help me."

She stood up from the single pilot's seat and slowly walked to the boarding ramp. When the ramp reached the ground and her line of sight was cleared, Eclipsa saw a figure standing at the bottom, waiting. It was an aged Quarren man.

"Are you Senator Butterfly?"

"Um...yes?" she answered hesitantly.

The Quarren man took two steps forward. "My name is Torano. I was a friend of the Jedi named Rhombulus."

"Rhombulus?" Eclipsa's empty stomach turned over. "Where...where is Rhombulus?" she asked, reasonably certain that she already knew the answer.

Torano sadly shook his head. "I'm afraid that Rhombulus...is dead. Along with all of the other residents of Shri'gaa Outpost. I am the only survivor."

Eclipsa sank to her knees and slowly sat down on the boarding ramp, lacking both the strength and the will to stand any longer. The old Quarren climbed the boarding ramp and sat down beside her. "What happened here?" she asked.

Torano stared off at a thin column of smoke rising above the trees from the last burning remains of the destroyed village. "Somehow, the Empire discovered that Rhombulus was hiding here. When they arrived, I instructed Rhombulus to stay out of sight. Darth Vader commanded that we give up the Jedi, but no one would betray him.

"When he threatened to start executing civilians, Rhombulus gave himself up. He tried to fight Vader, but..." Torano gave a dejected sigh. "Vader bested him."

For a moment, the old Quarren fell silent, and Eclipsa swallowed hard, her throat dry.

Torano went on. "And then...after Master Rhombulus had fallen...Vader ordered his troops...to execute every single resident of the Outpost."

To Eclipsa, this was the most shocking news of all. "What? Why would the Empire execute civilians?"

"For aiding a traitor and enemy of the Empire." The Quarren sighed. "Then they set fire to the village and destroyed the ships here in the landing field, I suppose it was all to make an example of us, to demonstrate the consequences of aiding the Jedi."

Completely overwhelmed, Eclipsa removed her hat and put a hand to her right temple. "I simply cannot believe that Sheev would allow this sort of behavior from his army."

Torano sadly shook his head. "The man the galaxy knew as Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was merely a facade, I think. A fabrication of a an evil tyrant's mind to conceal his true nature." The Quarren slowly got to his feet. "We should leave this place. There is nothing left here...for either of us."

Eclipsa looked away. "I'm afraid that isn't even an option. My ship is out of fuel. I was hoping that if I came here that I might at the very least be able to refuel, but..." She looked back at Torano. "I'm assuming any supply of fuel you had here is probably destroyed as well."

The Quarren solemnly nodded. "Unfortunately, your assumption is correct, Senator."

Eclipsa sighed. "So we really are stuck here, then. I get we sh-"

A blaster bolt pinged off the hull of the ship just above Eclipsa's head.

* * *

"Someone was attacking you?!" Star exclaimed. "Who?"

"Well, they looked like clone troopers, sort of-"

"The Empire is calling them 'stormtroopers.'" River cut her off. "From what I've heard, they're practically cold-blooded."

Moon hugged her arms to her chest as if she had suddenly become cold. "Some of them were here with Commander Emond when he came to question us about you, Star. They just had this air about them...as if they were _meant _to be intimidating."

"I certainly thought they were intimidating when they were shooting at me," Eclipsa said, meaning for it to be slightly sarcastic but instead coming out gravely serious. "I guess when the bulk of the Imperials left, a small surveillance squadron stayed behind."

"So what happened?" Marco asked.

"Well..."

* * *

Dropping her hat, Eclipsa scrambled backwards, stumbling to her feet. "Quickly! Get inside the ship!"

She and Torano awkwardly hurried the short distance up the boarding ramp to the safety of the ship's interior as three Imperial stormtroopers unleashed a hail of blaster fire from the tree line at the edge of the landing field. Eclipsa quickly activated the boarding ramp control, but the exterior door that sealed off the cabin could not close until the boarding ramp had fully retracted. The Senator pressed her body into the corner of the bulkhead beside the door, almost completely shielded from the stormtroopers' shots.

On the opposite side of the door, Torano copied her position. Unfortunately, Torano's body was not so easily concealed by the narrow bulkhead. A hot bolt of energy struck him in the side. He cried out in pain and fell sideways, collapsing to the floor. Now completely exposed, he was struck again in the upper chest just as the door slid closed.

Eclipsa dropped to her knees beside him as a few rounds of blaster fire terminated on the other side of the exterior hatch. "Oh, no! Torano!"

Small trickles of smoke rose up from blaster wounds. "It's okay..." he whispered, his voice laced with pain. "It must be my time." He took Eclipsa's hand. "Those stormtroopers likely have explosives. They'll blow up this ship like the others with you inside unless you can fend them off. Have you any weapons aboard?"

"I'm afraid I do not."

Wincing in pain, Torano reached into his vest, extracting a small blaster pistol. "Here." He held it out to her. "Take this."

Eclipsa sighed as she gently took it from the old Quarren's hand. "What's the point? Even if I can defeat those troopers, I have no means of survival and no way off of this planet."

"Well, perhaps you can-" Torano abruptly fell silent, his eyes growing wide. "Rhombulus's ship! He told me he hid it in a ravine just south of here when he arrived. Perhaps the Imperials did not find it, and you can use it to escape the planet!"

* * *

Marco raised a confused eyebrow. "But wait, you got here on your ship," he said. "On the _Meteora_."

Star nudged him in the arm with her elbow. "Marco! She's in the middle of telling us how Master Rhombulus's friend died!"

Eclipsa chuckled. "Not to worry. I will get to that, Marco.

* * *

There was a loud clanging sound against the _Meteroa_'s exterior door.

_"Door's sealed. There's no way we're getting in there."_

_"I'll fetch the charges."_

Eclipsa's entire body tensed up. "That cannot be good."

"Quickly!" Torano urged, wincing in pain. "You must defeat them!"

Placing her hand on the blaster's grip with determination, Eclipsa stood up. If the troopers were heading to retrieve explosive charges, they were probably walking away from the ship. If she was quick, she might be able to hit at least one of them before they had a chance to react.

Moving as quickly as she could, Eclipsa hit the door control and the hatch slid up as the boarding ramp deployed once more. There were only three stormtroopers. One wore the bright orange pauldron of a captain on his shoulder, and all three sported perfectly clean white armor. They turned around when they heard the _Meteora_'s door slide open, but Eclipsa was already drawing a bead on the first one. Her hand was unsteady, having been quite some time since she had held a blaster, and her tired and hungry body had difficulty supporting the weight of the gun. She squeezed the trigger and got off three shots, managing to strike one of the stormtroopers in the back of the right knee. The trooper cried out and dropped his weapon as the other two brought their blasters to bear on the Senator in the doorway.

Eclipsa ducked back behind the bulkhead as a small barrage of hot lasers slammed into the hull beside the door.

"This may not have been the best idea," she whispered to herself as she realized that opening the door had now also re-extended the boarding ramp, allowing the troopers entry to the ship.

Then again, perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

Keeping as close to the bulkhead as she could to make herself as small a target as possible, Eclipsa hurried further into the cabin of the _Meteora_.

_"Quick! After her!"_ she heard the stormtrooper captain yell.

Eclipsa darted into the galley and hid with her back against the bulkhead beside the door, holding her blaster at the ready. From elsewhere in the ship, a single blaster shot rang out. Her stomach twisted, hoping that single shot was not what she assumed it to be.

_"I'll go this way," _she heard one of the troopers say. _"You check that side."_

They were in the main entry corridor. If they were splitting up, that meant that one must be heading up to the cockpit and passenger compartment. The other was likely heading toward her.

_Well...at least I'll only have to deal with one at a time..._

A set of heavy footsteps drew closer. Eclipsa's heart beat so fast and hard she was worried that the sound of it pounding would betray her position. The footfalls were now right outside the galley doorway. Her finger twitched on the blaster's trigger.

The stormtrooper captain's helmet poked through the doorway, just a meter away from her. Without a moment to hesitate, Eclipsa turned the barrel of the blaster toward the side of the white helmet and fired.

The red bolt of energy did not have to travel far before it connected with its target. The stormtrooper captain fell forward, landing face down on the floor.

The chirp of the blaster echoed through the ship. The remaining stormtrooper surely heard it and was likely already hurrying to his captain's position. Eclipsa should have standing in wait to take the other trooper by surprise just as she had the first one.

But she wasn't.

She was transfixed. Something on the stormtrooper captain's armor had caught her attention. Attached to the utility belt around the captain's waist was a lightsaber.

_Rhombulus..._

Eclipsa knelt down beside the fallen stormtrooper, completely oblivious to anything that might be happening around her. The lightsaber hilt was constructed of a metal alloy of some type, composite rings around most of its length for gripping aid. A strictly ornamental crystal cut to resemble a miniature version of the original builder's head capped the bottom end. Eclipsa pulled it from the stormtrooper's belt and held it in her free hand.

_"Freeze!"_

_Oh, right. _

The remaining stormtrooper was standing in the doorway behind her. She quickly slid the lightsaber into the sleeve of her dress before the trooper could see it. _  
_

_"Don't move!_ _Drop the blaster!"_

The blaster clattered to the floor as Eclipsa relinquished her grasp on its grip.

_"Stand up!"_

Eclipsa got to her feet, using her left hand to help push herself upright. With her arm facing downward as she pushed herself up, she let the lightsaber hilt slide partially back out of her sleeve, catching the emitter end with her fingers to keep it from falling out.

_"Now turn around! Slowly!"_

And so she obeyed, keeping her arm in an orientation such that the lightsaber hilt was hidden from view. Now, she found herself face-to-face with the stormtrooper, looking down the barrel of an E-11 blaster rifle.

_"Who are you?" _demanded the trooper.

Eclipsa would have to take him by surprise. "My name is Senator Eclipsa Butterfly of the Galactic Senate of the Repub-" Mid sentence, she swung her right arm and pushed the blaster down and to the side as she pulled the lightsaber hilt fully into her left hand and depressed the activation plate.

The sound of the stormtrooper's blaster going off drowned out the ignition of the azure blade of Rhombulus's lightsaber. As Eclipsa stared at the humming lightsaber blade currently piercing the chest of the stormtrooper, she felt a terrific burning sensation in her left side, just below her ribs. While she had managed to push the blaster away from her body before impaling the trooper with the lightsaber, the trooper had pushed back, bringing the blaster just far enough forward to catch her in the side with a single shot.

Letting out a pained groan, Eclipsa extinguished the laser sword and the dead stormtrooper collapsed to the ground. Soon after, she herself sank to her knees, her side feeling as though it were on fire.

Carefully leaning back into a sitting position on the floor beside the dead captain, Eclipsa examined her side. A fist-sized section of fabric of her plum-colored dress had been burned away where the energy bolt had struck her side, the exposed skin black and charred. In her already weakened state, the pain was excruciating and exhausting. Eclipsa could not move. For nearly an hour, she remained motionless on the floor.

Gradually, the burning subsided, eventually fading enough that Eclipsa was able to move, but not yet stand. With her limited motion, she checked the stormtrooper captain's utility belt for anything that might be useful and was overjoyed to find a small supply bar. It was nowhere near enough nourishment, but it helped, and she gobbled it down in three bites.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of sitting on the floor in agony, Eclipsa was able to pull herself to her feet. She slipped Rhombulus's lightsaber into her pocket and, using the bulkhead for support, carefully stepped over the dead stormtroopers. While the burning sensation of the blaster bolt had mostly vanished, her side ached terribly and made walking very difficult. She staggered toward the external hatch at the ship's stern, already knowing what she would find when she reached it.

* * *

"I knew Torano would be dead when I reached him, and I was unfortunately correct. Those stormtroopers executed him when they boarded the ship." Eclipsa sighed. "At least he did not suffer any longer."

"That poor soul," River said solemnly.

"Indeed. I wish I could have given him a more proper burial," Eclipsa said. "Or returned his body to his home world. Alas, I was in no condition to do either."

Despite the somber nature of this part of the story, Star was still giddy with anticipation to find out what had occurred next. "So then what happened, Aunt Eclipsa?"

"Well, I remembered that Torano had told me that Rhombulus's ship was hidden in a ravine somewhere to the south. I figured that to be my only real option, so I ventured out to look for it. The third stormtrooper outside was still alive as I'd only hit him in the leg and he nearly did me in while I was searching for my hat. Fortunately for me, a stormtrooper that is lying on the ground is an easy target. Then I went galavanting off through the woods, as well as one can galavant with a blaster wound, to find Rhombulus's ship. Let me tell you, it was not easy, considering that I only had a general direction to go on. I was hoping that wherever this ravine was, it was large and stretched far enough that I would just happen upon it." Eclipsa gave a chuckle. "And sure enough...I did."

* * *

Pushing branches and brush out of her way, Eclipsa stumbled through the thick Endor woods. Her hat caught on a bramble and she reached back to grab it, making the mistake of reaching for it with her left arm, stretching the injured tissue on the left side of her body. She shrank her arm back and grimaced in pain, then carefully retrieved her hat with her right arm instead.

"Oh, dear," she sighed as she pulled the wide-brimmed hat back onto her head. "This is not going to be easy."

She took one more step and fell forward through the brush as the ground suddenly vanished from beneath her foot. She tumbled a short way down an embankment before crashing into a tree, ending her unexpected trip.

"Ouch..." she groaned, picking up herself and her hat once more. Looking around, she found herself in a shallow chasm, about ten meters deep. "Oh. Would you look at that? I do believe I've found the ravine." She chuckled. "What luck!"

Using the tree she'd crashed into as a handhold, Eclipsa carefully moved around it, scanning the bottom of the ravine. A swift but relatively calm creek ran through it, the running water slowly carving out the valley over hundreds of years. On its banks just below her was a Q-39 Sunchaser, still sitting just where Rhombulus had left it.

Eclipsa smiled. "Even better."

It took some time for her to climb all the way down in her injured state, but eventually, she made it down to the little four-passenger shuttle. The ship was old, and it was hard to tell if it had been sitting for two weeks or twenty years.

"Seems to still be intact. Let's hope everything works well enough for me to fly it."

Eclipsa climbed aboard and sank gratefully into the pilot's seat. The control panel lit up when she switched on the power. "Alright. I have electrical power. That's a good start." She searched for the reactor prime control and triggered it, turned on the fuel pump, and flipped the switch to spark the primary ignition motivator. The sound of the aged reactor coughing to life echoed into the cockpit from behind her. She watched the power output graph increasing on the computer readout. "Reactor is still functional." She rubbed her palms together in nervous anticipation. "Let's see if she'll fly."

Eclipsa pushed forward the throttle lever a little bit, watching the status on the computer readout. The single engine showed no response of any kind on the screen, and there was no whine of the thruster turbine spinning. She pushed it up a little more, but still nothing.

"Oh, dear..."

* * *

"Oh, dear..."

"Moon, sis, that is exactly what I said," Eclipsa chuckled. She adjusted herself in the med bay bed slightly, becoming a bit sore from sitting in the same position for so long.

Marco nodded slowly. "Ohhh...so that's why you didn't arrive in Master Rhombulus's ship."

"Yes, Marco. And it wasn't difficult to figure out what the problem was, either..."

* * *

"Well, I don't think I'm going to be able to fix that."

Eclipsa stood behind the ship, looking up at the single propulsion thruster mounted in the center of the fuselage. An iridescent spider easily the size of her head was staring back at her from inside. It had spun its funnel-shaped web all around the inside of the thruster, the silk threads so strong that they were completely preventing the inner workings from moving.

She could shoot the spider with her blaster, but what good would that do? It wasn't as if she were in any kind of condition to scale the ship up to the engine and clean out the webbing.

Sighing in defeat, Eclipsa sat down on a fallen log. "Now what do I do?"

For several minutes, Eclipsa did nothing more than sit, not even attempting to think of a solution to her predicament. After several minutes, the inexplicable feeling of being watched pricked at the back of her neck. She quickly glanced around. "Hello? Is someone there?"

Silence.

"Hmmm..."

Something poked Eclipsa in the right leg. She looked down and found herself looking into the eyes of a tiny, furry, bipedal creature with a cloth hood over its ears and holding a pointy spear.

"Well, hello there, little one!" Eclipsa greeted the Ewok.

"Cheeka poog yaght ty agudem?" it squeaked back.

"Oh! Ewokese! Yes! I speak a little! Um, Gee ackbug. Uh, kii lug a...a...arook? Aroek? Taqua preej maka-maka...uh...ejata? Beeka...shrook?"

The Ewok titled its head at her questioningly as Eclipsa did her best to commune with it in its native tongue. Then it said "Wrok! Apuu aj'ahsa!"

* * *

"I didn't know you spoke Ewokese, Aunt Eclipsa!" Star exclaimed. "Can you teach me? Ewoks are so cute!"

"And can you also translate what you were saying for the rest of us who do not speak it?" Moon asked.

Eclipsa laughed. "I can try to teach you a little, Star, but I don't speak it very well myself. As for what we were saying, the Ewok simply asked me what I was doing out there in the woods. I told him my ship was out of fuel and this one was broken. Then he said he could help me. Quite a friendly little fellow he was."

Brimming with anticipation, Star hopped up onto the bed with her Aunt. "So what happened next?"

"Well, the Ewok's name was Fahn. He had a friend nearby named Steve."

River hurrumphed in surprise. "I'm sorry, did you say Steve?"

Marco shared the sentiment. "Yeah, what kind of Ewok name is Steve?"

Eclipsa shrugged. "I don't know. I did not question it. Anyway, they suggested that I bring my ship to the ravine and siphon the fuel out of Rhombulus's ship into the_Meteora_. I, uh, didn't exactly know how to do that, but, I will tell you, those little Ewoks sure were smarter than they looked. They helped me transfer the fuel...by which I mean they mostly did it for me because I certainly never would have had the strength to do it on my own. I'm surprised I was even able to find Master Rhombulus's ship in the first place.

"So, once the _Meteora _was skyworthy again, I decided I would have to return here because I had no where else to go, and hope that there would not be an Imperial battalion waiting to shoot me down when I arrived."

Marco laughed nervously. "That's kind of the same logic we were going by when we decided to come here."

Eclipsa returned his giggle. "So what adventures befell you two?"

"Oh, man!" Marco gasped. "Where to even start?"

Star knew exactly where to start. She spun her legs around over the edge of the bed and slid over closer to Eclipsa, talking as fast as she could. "Buckle up, Aunt Eclipsa, because let me tell ya, it's a RIDE. So, Marco and I were in my room at the Jedi Temple and we started hearing blaster fire so we looked outside and saw a whole bunch of Clone troopers shooting up the place! And Master Skywalker was helping them! And...!"

As their daughter excitedly retold her tale to Eclipsa (with some interjections from Marco) Moon took River aside. Before she even spoke, the King knew that something was plaguing his wife just from the look on her face.

"What's wrong, Moonpie? You look rather worried."

Moon pursed her lips nervously. "The Empire executed that entire village because they were harboring a fugitive Jedi. We're hiding two, plus a senator who they've tried to kill multiple times."

"You're not seriously considering throwing our daughter and your sister off the planet, are you?"

"Of course not!" She glanced over at Star and Eclipsa with Marco on the other side of the medical bay. "I'm just worried about what will happen if the Empire finds out that they're here."

River sighed. "I admit, that thought had crossed my mind, as well. We'll just have to make extra certain that the Empire does not discover their whereabouts!"

But Moon had her doubts that that would be possible.

* * *

Janna led the way as she and Tom climbed up the stairs from Juni Street Station among the throng of other people disembarking from the maglev subway. PY-HD followed close behind, chittering complaints about how grimy the street was and how people kept bumping into it. "Oh, yeah. There it is," Janna said, taking a deep breath. "The stench of durasteel foundries and black market deals. Just how I remember it."

Tom looked around, taking in the sights as he shifted the carrying case containing the credits from King River from one hand to the other. Juni Street dropped off into the ocean on one side, and a six-story high wall of scaffolding supporting a tangled web of pipes and wiring conduits was on the other. "This is where you grew up?"

"More or less. C'mon, let's get going. My friend is probably already waiting for us."

* * *

"Excuse me, droid?"

T-36B, an aging LOM-Series protocol droid, looked up from its console station at the front desk. A man in an Imperial Security Officer's uniform and a helmeted being dressed entirely in black were walking into the reception area of the repair shop. "Yes, sir. How may I assist you?"

The man held up his Imperial credentials for the droid to see. "Security Officer Rosado, Imperial Army. Is the owner of this repair shop currently on the premises?"

The droid appeared to be carefully processing and considering the officer's words. "The Master is currently-"

"Right here." The voice came from a door that had just slid open, and a somewhat portly red-haired human male dressed in coveralls and wiping his hands on a rag strolled toward them. He stuck out his still grimy hand and enthusiastically introduced himself. "Ferguson O'durguson, ship repair extraordinaire."

Officer Rosado reluctantly accepted the handshake. "Uh, Security Officer Rosado, Imperial Army."

Ferguson then offered the same hand to the Inquisitor, who did not uncross its impatient arms to shake it. "Enough pleasantries. You do any repair work on a YV-560 light freighter recently? Registered to a Lucy Lucille Lucitor?"

"YV-560? You talking about that ship that fled Coruscant right after the Republic was reorganized? The one that was seen rescuing two Jedi?"

"You've seen it?!" Rosado exclaimed.

Ferguson shook his head. "Nah, man, I wish. That ship's practically famous! I heard about it from another starship mechanic, who heard about it from a freighter pilot who heard about it from a customer who lives on Coruscant that saw the whole thing."

"Do you know who it belongs to, at least?" the inquisitor asked.

"Nope. Sorry." He folded his arms defiantly. "But, if I did, I sure wouldn't tell the people trying to track it down."

Behind the mask, the Inquisitor narrowed its eyes. Security Officer Rosado could tell by the subtle change in body language that the Inquisitor was enraged, and had a hunch he knew what was about to happen.

In one lightning fast motion, the Inquisitor snatched one of the twin lightsaber hilts from its belt and aimed the emitter at Ferguson's gut, but just as its thumb touched the activation plate, the blade's trajectory was changed, and the crimson blade missed Ferguson entirely by a few centimeters. Confused and furious, the Inquisitor looked to its left at the man currently grasping its wrist, having pushed its arm away so that the lightsaber missed. Rosado stared back, his expression hard.

Ferguson stood frozen in fear, watching as the two Imperials in his shop stared each other down, the humming of the lightsaber daring him to move and be cut by its blade.

Rosado was busy thinking about what a terrible mistake he had just made. Sure, he had just saved this mechanic's life, but now, certainly, the Inquisitor would turn its weapon on him instead.

The tension in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

And then, to the surprise of everyone, the Inquisitor switched the lightsaber off. Rosado gratefully let go of the black-gloved wrist. Ferguson hyperventilated.

The Inquisitor took a step backward...and then reignited the lightsaber and swung it toward the droid behind the counter, lopping off its head.

"6-B! NOOOO!" Ferguson yelled in anguish as the droid's body crashed to the floor.

"Come on, Rosado." And the Inquisitor returned the lightsaber to its belt as it stalked out of the shop.

Rosado looked at Ferguson, who had sunk to the floor and was weeping over the fallen body of his droid. "Um...I'm, uh...I'm sorry..."

As he hurried after the Inquisitor, another man entered from the same door Ferguson had come through earlier. "Ferguson! What happened?!"

"Alfonzo! 6-B is dead!"

"What?! Noooo!" Alfonzo fell to his knees on the droid's other side, and they hugged B-6 between them.

Rosado felt terrible, but he didn't have time to dwell on his feeling of guilt. As he caught up with the Inquisitor, it spoke without turning to look at him.

"That was a pretty gutsy move there, Officer Rosado."

He swallowed nervously. "Uh...Inquisitor, I, uh-"

"I didn't think anyone would have have that kind of bravery, especially not you." The black helmet turned to face him. "I respect that."

Rosado blinked as the anxiety flowed from his body like a wave. "Oh...thank you, Inquisitor. I, uh-"

"But you defy me like that again, and you will share that droid's fate."

Security Officer Rosado froze in his tracks, the color draining from his face. "Understood, Inquisitor. Understood."

**"Steve" was the name of my OC from my ****_Phineas and Ferb _****fanficing days. Most of his appearances have been scrubbed from the site, but you may still find him floating around here and there. I named an Ewok after him as a silly way of honoring him. **

**I was not intending on my coworker (Security Officer Rosado) becoming a supporting character in this story, but somehow, he worked his way in there and he will be showing up more.**

**Whoops. Oh, well. I kinda like him, and he deserves recognition for watching the entire SVTFOE series just so he could read this story. What do you think of Security Officer Rosado?**

**Next: New Parts**


	27. New Parts

**In case you didn't know, "Kriff" or "kriffing" is basically the Star Wars universe equivalent of the F-word.**

**Also, "Krill" is the Aurebesh letter "K."**

"Down here."

Tom followed Janna and PY-HD into a narrow alleyway. The building walls on either side were several stories high and blocked out most of the sunlight. "You sure about this?" he asked, clutching the heavy carry case full of credits to his chest. "This doesn't exactly feel like the, uh, safest place to be."

"Why are you so skittish? We're smugglers, ninety percent of our business occurs in places like this."

"Well, because I'm not usually carrying the equivalent of twice our entire year's profit in cash into the places where we conduct our business."

"Entire year's profits? How much is in there?"

"Oh, I have no idea. I'm just making a guess based on how heavy it is. Which is very, in case you were wondering."

"Relax, Lucy. Back alley deals aren't literally done in back alleys on Corellia." She carefully stepped over a sleeping feline animal of some kind that was tied to a pipe beside a door. "Because the whole kriffing planet is a back alley," she muttered.

PY-HD hopped over the animal, and Tom followed with extreme caution, seeing the slowly breathing creature's needle-like teeth. "Greaaat. That's comforting. How much further to our, uh, 'rendezvous point'?"

Janna stopped at an intersection of the alleyway, glancing left and right. "Uhhh..." She pointed to the right. "This way, I think."

"You _think_?"

PY-HD bleeped something berating at Tom.

"It's not like I was here yesterday," Janna said as she turned to the right and headed down the other alley. "I don't remember exactly."

"Oh, I don't know," an unfamiliar voice called from the darkness up ahead. "I think you remember well enough."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a kid."

"It is," Janna scoffed.

From the shadows emerged a very confident looking human male of no more than fourteen standard years old. "Janna Ordonia," the boy said. "I never thought I would see you here again."

Janna greeted the kid with a smug grin. "I honestly had hoped I'd never have to come back, but, you know, things don't always go as planned."

"Ain't that the truth." The boy motioned at Tom with a nod of his head. "Who's your friend?"

Janna looked at Tom. "Lucy, this is my childhood friend, Han."

The kid flashed a smile that was inexplicably both charming and untrustworthy at the same time and stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Lucy."

Tom shifted the carrying case to his left hand and accepted the handshake. "My name is actually Tom. Tom Lucitor."

"Oh, I gotcha. Now the nickname makes sense." Han turned his attention back to Janna. "So, your message said to meet you here, but you didn't say why. What brings you back to Corellia?"

"I need to find new hyperdrives for my ship, and a new starboard sublight thruster," Janna explained.

Han's face scrunched up in surprise. "How did you manage to break all of that at the same time?"

"Long story. I know I'll only ever find those parts here. Thing is, I don't know who a reputable supplier is to get good YV-class parts from. I hoped maybe you knew someone."

Han raised a questioning eyebrow. "A reputable parts supplier? Since when do you care about that? Last I heard you were a smuggler."

"And a darn good one. What's your point?"

"I'd think you'd rather have your parts and service completely off-the-books so it wasn't traceable back to you."

"Well, I don't have time to hunt around for rare parts, let alone rare parts that actually_work_. I just want to go somewhere I can purchase new legacy parts or low-parsec used parts that I know won't give me any trouble so I can get off this planet as quickly as possible. Understand?"

Han nodded. "Ohhh, I get it. You want a trustworthy scoundrel."

Tom jumped. "That's our line!" His outburst earned him an elbowing in the ribs from Janna.

Han put a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Hmm...let me think...I guess we could see if Reflectacorp has the parts. That's definitely the least-scummy black-market starship parts dealer on Corellia, and they usually have just about everything. Very expensive, though. That's the price you pay for less-scum."

"Don't you worry about price, Han, old buddy," Janna assured him. "Can you take us there?"

"Sure. Proxima won't be expecting me back for quite some time, anyway."

"You're still stuck working for that worm?"

"Unfortunately. But it's fine." He waved for Janna and Tom to follow him. "C'mon, let's get going."

* * *

Having returned to Butterfly Castle to allow Eclipsa some rest, Marco headed up to the castle library. Queen Moon had said something about wanting to teach Star how to make a pie, and he didn't want to intrude on their family time.

The huge book on the pedestal in the center of the room opened as Marco closed the door and Glossaryck floated up from between its pages. "Ah, Mr. Diaz. I've been expecting you."

Marco, however, had certainly not been anticipating the little blue man. He jumped in surprise. "Glossaryck! How did you beat me here?! I thought you were still with Eclipsa when we left the Airbase!"

"Oh, I was!" Glossaryck chuckled. "But when you know magick, you can be anywhere-" He snapped his fingers and a glowing green mist enveloped him. Marco's eyes about popped out of his head as the mist dissipated, revealing that Glossaryck had completely vanished. Then something touched his shoulder and the boy about launched out of his skin. Glossaryck had reappeared directly behind him. "-just like that!"

"How the heck did you do that?!" Marco demanded, equal parts terrified and impressed.

"I just told you. With magick."

"Magic? You mean like what magicians do?"

"No, no, no, magick. With a 'krill' at the end. Force magick."

"That...that's a thing?"

Glossaryck folded his arms and chuckled as he slowly spun upside down. "Heh. Clearly, you've never been to Dathomir."

Marco involuntarily narrowed his eyes at the little blue man. "I'm not sure I even want to know."

Glossaryck shrugged. "Your loss. So what brings you up to the library, Mr. Diaz?"

Marco sank into a nearby chair, thankful for a reprieve from hauling his heavy prosthetic leg around. "Star is making a pie with her mom, so I thought I'd let them have their time together and, you know, sit down and read something."

"Ohhhh!" Glossaryck's tone seemed mocking. "You're a little knowledge seeker, huh? Well, we've got quite a selection of texts here to choose from. What's your fancy?"

Marco blinked. "...Uhh-"

"Ooh! I know!" Glossaryck interrupted. "I've got just the thing! You're gonna love this!" He took a flying leap into the nearest bookshelf and vanished in a cloud of the green mist once more.

Marco looked around tensely, waiting to see where the little man would unexpectedly pop up next. The one place he did not think to look was directly above him, and that is precisely where Glossaryck dropped a heavy book on him from. The tome landed in Marco's lap with a thud, and Marco was startled so badly that he nearly knocked the chair over backwards. "YAH!"

"Here it is!" Glossaryck proclaimed as Marco tried desperately to draw oxygen back into his lungs. "A classic tale by Ofdyne Narc!"

Still catching his breath, Marco asked, "What's it about?"

"It's the tale of a young girl from another dimension who-"

"Another dimension?" Marco asked unenthusiastically. "Isn't that a little far-fetched?"

Glossaryck shrugged. "Well, yeah, sure, but it's fiction. Who gives a bantha dropping if it's far fetched?"

Marco flipped the book open to the first brittle page. The text was Aurebesh, but it was written in an old-timey fancy scrawl that made it rather difficult to decipher. "How old is this thing? I'm afraid I'm gonna rip it."

"Pretty old. Also there's this evil queen who isn't actually evil frozen inside of a crystal, but you won't find that out until a little over halfway through the book."

"Okay, so, do you want me to read it, or are you gonna just tell me everything that happens in it?"

Glossaryck's smile fell. "Oh...you want to- right..." The disappointment in his voice was obvious. "I'm sorry..." He floated dejectedly across the room back to his own book on the pedestal.

Marco sighed. "Would you...maybe like to read it with me?"

In an instant, the little blue man reappeared on Marco's shoulder. "I would love to!"

A nervous laugh escaped Marco's throat, hoping he hadn't just made a terrible mistake. "Oh. Great!" He turned his attention back to the large book in his lap. The cover and spine were blank. "What's this book called anyway?"

"It is entitled _Quasar Caterpillar Against the Powers Of Tyranny_."

"...Seriously?"

"Yup!"

Marco blinked and decided to just roll with it. How bad could it be? He shifted slightly to a more comfortable position and settled in for a relaxing read.

It wasn't long, however, before his eyelids became heavy attempting to decipher the scrawling words on the flimsiplast pages. Glossaryck dozed off on his shoulder after only ten minutes, and the tiny blue man gave off a surprising amount of heat. Lulled by the relaxing warmth of Glossaryck on his shoulder and his eyes strained from the typeface on the book's pages, before long, Marco fell sleep.

* * *

"Alright. This is the place," announced Han in a hushed voice.

A half hour walk had brought them to a different equally-dark and much dirtier alleyway where Han had stopped in front of a single dingy door.

Tom clutched the case full of credits tightly to his chest again. "You know, when you said earlier that we were going to the least-scummy black-market starship parts dealer on Corellia right after Janna said that back-alley deals don't literally take place in back alleys, I was not picturing going to an even shadier alley than the one we were in when we had that conversation."

Janna laughed. "Geez, Lucy, you gonna breathe somewhere in that sentence?"

"I'm a demonicite. I have three lungs."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."

An amused chuckled came from Han. "Well, you know what they say, Tom," he said as he rapped his knuckles on the door. "Never judge a Cerean by the height of its cranial cone."

The door slid upwards, revealing a very intimidating assassin droid holding a disintegration riffle.

"What is your directive?" droned the droid's monotone synthetic voice.

"Hi, IG-33," Han greeted. "This is Captain Ordonia and her partner, Lucy-"

"Hey!"

"-and they're here to, uh, peruse the inventory, you know?"

The droid's central photoreceptor flickered back and forth between Janna, Tom, and PY-HD as if scrutinizing them. After a moment, it's eye stopped rotating back and forth and it stood aside, allowing them passage. "Enter."

"Thanks, 33," Han said, stepping past the droid.

The others followed, finding themselves in a small, dimly lit room with rusty durasteel walls. IG-33 closed the door behind them. PY-HD bleeped something about feeling claustrophobic.

"Uh, Janna," Tom nervously whispered, "There isn't anything in here. It's just an empty room."

"This room is the security vestibule," the droid informed him, having heard Tom's hushed voice. "Before you will be allowed entry into the showroom, you must relinquish your weapons. They will be returned to you at the completion of your transaction."

"What if we don't buy anything?" Janna asked.

The droid stared as if Janna had just spoken to it in a language it was not programmed to understand. "They will be returned to you at the completion of your transaction," it repeated. It slung the disintegration riffle over its shoulder and held out its hands. "Your weapons, please."

Tom once again shot a nervous look at Janna and was surprised to see her calmly pulling the twin DC-17 blaster pistols from her inside of her jacket and handing them over to the assassin droid. "Standard black market operating procedure," she told him as she spied the look on his face. "Just give the nice droid that canon you lug around so we can get this over with."

Tom cautiously extracted his WESTAR-32 from inside of his leather jacket, popping out the cartridge and pocketing it before flipping it around backwards and setting it into the droid's waiting hand by the barrel.

IG-33 turned to Han, silently beckoning for his weapons. "Oh, I don't have any," Han said, holding open his jacket so that the droid could see that he did not have a shoulder holster.

"Very good," droned the droid. It opened a small compartment built into the wall and gently hung the blasters on a rack inside. Then it moved to the wall opposite the door by which they had entered and tapped a code into a keypad. "Please enjoy browsing the selection."

The entire wall slowly sank into the floor. Tom's three eyes about popped out of his head when he spied what was revealed on the other side. "Sweet celestial bodies!"

The room was massive, easily the size of six spaceport docking bays. Row after row of shelves and display pads were brightly illuminated by overhead lights. The contents of each shelf were neatly organized and labeled, and there was not a single speck of dust or dirt to be found anywhere.

Han elbowed Tom in the shoulder. "It's like I said. Never judge a Cerean by the height of its cranial cone."

"No kidding!"

Janna slowly walked past her still-gawking copilot. "This is really impressive and all, Han, but man, it's gonna take forever to search this whole place for what we need!"

"Oh, we don't have to. We'll just go to the front counter down there." He pointed toward the opposite end of the massive room. "And ask the inventory droid."

* * *

Marco was out-cold asleep in a chair in the castle library with a huge open book on his lap and a snoring Glossaryck on his shoulder.

And Star was enthralled.

Why did watching her best friend sleep send her heart soaring the way it did? And, more importantly, why did seeing him quiet the troubling thoughts that had been on her mind just a few moments before entering the library? Sure, Marco was cute. Star had thought that by the end of the first week they'd known each other, long before she developed feelings for him. But for some reason, when he was asleep, she found him even more adorable than usual. She could have sat there on the floor in front of him for an hour just watching his chest slowly rise and fall with the sound of each breath he took.

But she had news for him, so she'd have to wake him up.

Picking up the plate bearing a still-warm slice of pie from the floor beside her, Star got to her feet. She walked around behind the chair and held the pie under Marco's nose, allowing the aroma of warm fruit-filled pasty to waft into his nostrils.

Unfortunately, her plan to gently rouse Marco from his slumber with the scent of fresh baked goods was shattered the instant Glossaryck got a whiff. The little blue man's head bolted upright, his eyes wide and drool already seeping over his lower lip.

"PIE!"

The loud exclamation a few centimeters from his ear abruptly woke Marco with a start. "GAH!"

"Glossaryck!" Star groaned in frustration, quickly moving the pie plate out of his trajectory as he leapt off of Marco's shoulder toward it.

"Pie! Pie! Pie!" He floated up towards the plate again and Star tried to move it out of his reach.

"Stop it! This is for Marco!" Glossaryck reached the plate and Star quickly held it behind her back. "The whole rest of the pie is down in the kitchen! Go get your own piece!"

"Ah! The rest of the pie!" exclaimed the little blue man excitedly. "To the kitchen!" He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of glowing green mist.

Star looked at Marco. "Uhh...did you know he could do that?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed.

Star narrowed her eyes at the spot where Glossaryck had been. "Weird..." She turned her attention back to her best friend, holding out the plate to him. "Here! I brought you the first slice of the pie Mom and I made!"

"Awesome!" Marco carefully took the plate from her, inhaling the delicious aroma. "It smells great!"

"It was my grandma's recipe." Star produced a fork from inside of her little purple bag, giving it a small twirl between her fingers for dramatic effect before placing it in Marco's waiting palm. "She was the best chef in all of Clan Butterfly."

Marco took a bite, the crust light and flaky, the filling delightfully fruity and sweet. "Mm! That's really good, Star!"

She beamed happily and took a teasing bow. "Why, thank you, Master Diaz!" She squeezed herself into the chair beside him, both quite happy for the cuddle time that had been lacking since they'd arrived on Mewni. She nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and sighed happily as Marco put his arm around her, happily munching on his treat.

_This is perfect,_ she thought. _I wish it could be like this..._ Star's train of thought broke as she accidentally reminded herself of her earlier thoughts. _...forever..._

"So did you have some nice one-on-one time with your mom?" Marco asked.

"Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah, it was...greaaat."

"You, uh...don't sound very sure about that."

"No, no, it was. It was great spending time with my mom again. It's just..." She fell silent.

Marco set the plate of half-eaten pie down on the open book in his lap and gave his best friend's shoulder a gentle squeeze. He didn't need to say anything. His message got across.

Star took a deep breath. "I don't think we can stay here."

Of all the things Star could have said, that was definitely not what Marco was expecting. "What? Why not?"

"I was thinking about Eclipsa's story. She said that guy she met on Endor said that entire settlement was wiped out by the Empire just because they were hiding Master Rhombulus there," Star explained. "What if the Empire finds out we're here? This is my home planet, Marco, and I'm the Princess, which means these are _my people_. I'd never forgive myself if..." Star fell silent once more.

Marco wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't deny, though, Star had a point. Then again, Mewni was an out-of-the-way system that did not host a plethora of comers and goers and did not really pose any kind of threat or interest to the Empire. Then again _again_, Queen Moon had said some Imperials had come around asking about Star. There's nothing to say they wouldn't return to check a second time.

"Well...we can't go anywhere without Janna and Tom," he finally said. "We should wait for them to get back and talk it over with them."

"I don't want to put Janna and Tom in danger anymore, either. They've already sacrificed so much for us...I..." Star let out a deep sigh. "I don't know. I feel guilty."

"It's not your fault, Star."

"It will be if something happens to our friends or my family or the citizens of Mewni." She burrowed her face into the shoulder of Marco's hoodie and let out a muffled stressed moan. Marco just hugged her to him, knowing there was likely nothing he could possibly say that would make her feel better and hoped that his very presence would be enough.

Eventually, Star removed her face from Marco's hoodie and met his eyes again. "There's something else I was thinking about, too."

"What's that?"

"If, uh, 'Darth Vader' is hunting for surviving Jedi...and also, there was that..._thing_ that attacked you back on Coruscant. You said it had red lightsabers."

"Yup. It did."

"It's probably working for the Empire, too, and what if there are more?" She sat up straighter. "I think it might be a good idea for me to try to improve my lightsaber skills, you know? In case we run into Vader or that thing or something else again. So...do you think you can try to teach me some of what Master Fisto taught you?"

Marco's eyes lit up. "Oh! I would love to, Star." He picked up his pie plate again. "Well, I mean, I guess after I get my new leg and I can hopefully move around better."

Star gently smacked the side of her forehead with her palm. "Oh! Duh! I almost completely forgot the entire reason I came up here! I have good news for you! Mr. Fotino contacted me. He says your leg is finished and we can come by to have it installed anytime!"

Marco froze, another bite of pie halfway into his mouth. "Oh...that's, uh...great."

Star cocked her head to one side, confused. "You don't sound like its great."

He set his fork back down on the plate again. "I mean, it is great, if I can have a real cybernetic leg and it works as well as my real one did. I'm just...really nervous about having it installed. That guy creeped me the heck out and I'm not so sure I want him performing a life-altering surgical procedure on me."

Star scoffed at the idea. "Don't be so judgmental, Marco. Ben Fotino isn't creepy."

Marco finally got the bite of pie into his mouth. "Yeah. Sure," he mumbled through his chewing.

Star gave him a playful shove. "Well, don't you worry, bestie. I won't leave your side. I promise."

Marco managed a smile. "Thanks, Star." He shoveled another bite into his mouth. "This pie is amazing, by the way. Somehow every bite is better than the previous one."

"That's ol' Grandma Comet's recipe for ya. Almost everything she made had that effect. Still can't exactly figure out why..." Her eyes fell on the heavy book still resting on his lap. "Whatcha reading, there?"

"Oh, some book Glossaryck told me to read. Well, more like *insisted* I read. It's called _Quasar Caterpillar Against the Powers Of Tyranny_."

"What a long and unwieldy title. Well, finish your pie so we can go get your cool new leg!"

Marco consumed the last three forkfuls of his pie as slowly as he possibly could. The very instant he swallowed the last bite, Star leapt out of the chair and hauled Marco to his feet, causing the book to tumble to the floor. "C'mon c'mon c'mon! Let's go let's go let's go!"

Marco was nearly knocked off his feet as Star dragged him out of the library. "Star! Slow down! I still can't run!"

A swirl of green mist appeared just above the chair where the two Padawans had been sitting just a moment before, dissipating to reveal Glossaryck, remnants of messily devoured pie still stuck in his beard. "Mmmm! Princess, I gotta hand it to you, that pie was-" He stopped mid-sentence as he realized that he was alone. "Star? Marco?"

A yelp in the distance caught his ears through the open doorway. "Slow down! I can't-! No! Not the stairs!"

"Wheeeee-! OOF! Ahhhh-!"

A series of crashes followed.

"Oh," Glossaryck said to himself, picking a piece of pie crust from his beard and popping it in his mouth. "There they are."

* * *

The starship parts "showroom" as IG-33 had called it was more like a well-organized warehouse packed to the brim with every component imaginable. It took almost ten minutes of walking past row after row of power converters, coolant pumps, labeled bins of toggle switches and control panel indicator lights, reactor guts, canons, power cables of every gauge, console screens, hull panels, landing skids, hydraulic pistons, radar dishes, shield generators, repulsorlift jets, transparisteel viewscreens and windows, and all manner of assorted bearings, couplers, diverters, and transmitters for Janna, Tom, Han, and PY-HD to reach the front counter.

A dark purple protocol droid with extra-large, white photoreceptors stood behind the counter. "Hello! Welcome to Reflectacorp Starship Legacy Parts Supply!" the droid greeted in a surprisingly friendly tone. "I am C-HRS3. How may I be of assistance to you today?"

PY-HD made a rude noise that did not translate to basic, but didn't really require a translation to be understood.

"Hey, Seahorse," Han said, pronouncing the droid's alphanumeric designation as one word. "My friends here are looking for some rather rare parts. YV-class, model 560." He turned back to Janna. "Is there a variation? Like the YT's have?"

"I didn't think the YV's ever had variations," Janna replied with a shrug.

"You are correct," C-HRS3 told her. The protocol droid plugged the scop-link housed in its finger into the computer terminal. "I will search Reflectacorp's extensive catalog for available YV-560 parts." C-HRS3 stared straight ahead at its customers as it silently checked the parts inventory for fifteen incredibly long and awkward seconds while the three organics tried to find something else to fix their eyes on. PY-HD made some sarcastic noises about the droid being "corporate dung." "The Reflectacorp catalog is currently showing six hundred and thirty-two individual components in stock for a YV-series model 560 light freighter, duplicate parts totaling one-thousand eight hundred and four. Which components-" The droid abruptly spotted speaking, remaining silent for just a moment before continuing. "Which components are you seeking out today?"

"A starboard side sublight thruster!" Tom blurted out.

His lack of tact caused Janna to sigh in disgust. "And both the main and backup hyperdrives. Please."

"Are you currently in possession of your ship's technical readouts?" C-HRS3 inquired.

Janna pointed to PY-HD beside her. "Yeah, Pony Head has them."

The purple protocol droid reached beneath the counter and retrieved a cable with an adapter on the end. "Please connect this to your droid so that I may cross reference Reflectacorp's extensive parts catalog with the technical readout of your specific ship."

"On it." Janna grabbed the cable and quickly jammed it into PY-HD's data port before the astromech could protest.

"I will see if those parts are currently in stock. One moment, please." More silent uncomfortable staring as C-HRS3 searched the computer for a second time. "You are in luck! The components that you are seeking are all in stock!" The protocol droid announced enthusiastically. "Sublight thruster, starboard side, direct factory replacement, part number M-dash-six-six-zero-zero-dash-five-zero-C-J. Location, aisle sixty-two, row nine. Main hyperdrive, generation 2, direct factory replacement, part number zero-five-one-eight-four-two-niner-six-A-F. Location, aisle sixty-seven, row twelve. Back-up hyperdrive, generation 1, direct factory replacement, part number one-six-one-two-four-seven-five-zero-three-zero. Location, aisle sixty-two, row eight."

The collective seven eyes of the three organics C-HRS3 was addressing were glazing over with obvious boredom, but the droid took no notice, continuing on its cheery but monotonous voice.

"The Reflectacorp catalog is also showing a listing for an upgraded main hyperdrive for the YV-class model 560 light freighter. A class .5 hyperdrive is available, compatible with only light modification."

This information caused Janna's eyes to light up with excitement. "Class .5? Really? What kind of modifications?"

"An alternate wiring harness and power coupling adapter kit available through

Reflectacorp's top-of-the-line starship system modification department makes conversion quick and simple! The adapter kit can be purchased for just an additional 300 credits."

"And how much is all the rest?" Tom asked, his tone skeptical as he attempted to hide the case full of credits behind his back.

C-HRS3 cocked its head slightly to the side. "I will calculate the projected balance." It fell silent for only a second. "With the original factory replacement parts, your total will come to 6,302 credits. The upgraded hyperdrive and adapter kit will increase the total to 10,429 credits."

Han whistled. "Wow. That's a lot of money."

Janna looked at Tom. "How much do we have?"

Her copilot shrugged, still trying to conceal the credit-filled case. "I don't know. I told you, I haven't counted it."

She reached around behind his back and snatched the handle from his fingers. "Well, let's find out, shall we?" She tossed the case up onto the counter before C-HRS3, popped open the catch and raised the lid. The case was filled nearly to capacity with gold-colored credit chips as King River had shown them, but exactly how much was in there?

"Whoaa." Han marveled at the neatly stacked rows of credits. "I've never seen so much money at once before!"

Tom looked over Janna's shoulder. "Yeah, I think we can afford it."

C-HRS3 spoke up. "By my calculations based on denomination of these credit chips and the width, length and depth of this case, it will only take 11.3% of the contents of this case to pay for the parts you have requested."

Janna pounded her fist enthusiastically on the counter hard enough for some of the nearly stacked credit chips to jump. "SOLD!"

* * *

The door slid aside almost the instant Marco knocked as if Ben Fotino had been immediately on the other side awaiting his arrival. "Wehell! If'n it isn't my new little test subject!"

"Test subject?" Marco yelped. Star put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from sprinting off.

Fotino laughed. "I'm only messin' with ya'll." He waved for them to follow him. "C'mon in! Yer new appendage is all ready for installation!"

It took a literal shove forward from Star to make Marco enter the building. He scowled at her as the door closed behind them, and she smiled back at him innocently.

When they caught up with Ben in the workshop, they found the little man scrambling around arranging equipment and tools around the examination table in the center of the room. The table itself was covered with a sheet, the outline of something long and cylindrical concealed underneath. "Ah! There you two are! You ready to see your new leg, sonny?"

"Uh, sure..."

Ben grabbed the edge of the sheet and flung it aside. "Behold!"

Marco's new prosthetic leg lay before them on the table. A black metal alloy made up its construction, polished to a reflective shine. Marco carefully picked it up. It was much lighter than it looked, but still commanded some decent weight. He wondered if it were weighted to match his existing right leg. Every joint of every component was beautifully welded, the electronics carefully concealed inside. It was somewhat skeletal in appearance instead of matching the skin contours of the original, but it was fully enclosed to keep out water and contaminating debris.

Marco could not help but be impressed. "Wow. It...it's beautiful."

Ben folded his arms confidently. "I know. I ain't just a common construction droid. I's a craftsman."

"I'll say!" Star said excitedly. "You're gonna look so cool with that thing!"

"You won't even see it, really," Marco told her. "It'll always be under my pants."

She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Not _always._"

Marco nervously laughed. "You've been spending too much time with Janna."

"If you two is done flirtin', shall we get on with the installation?" Fotino interjected.

"Right, right, sorry," Marco apologized. "You want me up here on the table, I'm guessing?"

"That'd be correct."

Marco handed the prosthetic to Star and hopped up onto the table, rolling up his left trouser leg well above the knee to allow Ben access to the severed portion of his leg. Then he laid down, the back of his head instantly becoming sore from the very hard table.

Ben clambered up onto a stool to bring himself up to the same height as the table. "Now, I understand that you might be a bit nervous, so I have a barrier here to prevent you from seeing what I'm doin' down yonder, if you'd like."

"Oh, yeah," Marco said, "That would actually make me feel better."

Ben snatched a pole off of his tool cart and held it above Marco's midsection. At the press of a button, a curtain dropped from a slot in the bottom and the pole remained floating in the air when Ben released it, resulting in a shroud between Marco's eyes and his lower half.

"Better?"

"I guess so."

Ben clapped his hands together. "Alllllriiiiiight! Ma'am, you just hang on to the that there leg until I'm ready for it, if'n you don't mind."

"Don't worry," Star assured him. "I'll be super-duper careful with it."

"Aw, you needn't worry none about that. That there leg is darn near indestructible! You could crack open a wamp rat's skull with that thing and not even cause it the tiniest bit o' damage!"

Star's eyes lit up. "Can I hit something with it?! Please?"

Marco gritted his teeth. "Uh, Star-"

"Knock yerself out! Well, I mean, don't actually knock yerself out, but, I mean, go ahead! Swing it at the floor, it'll crack, I guarantee!"

"Okay!"

"Star, I don't think-!"

Holding the prosthetic leg over her head, Star brought it down toward the duracrete floor with as much force as she could swing it, the heel of the foot meeting the ground with the sharp _thwack! _Marco winced. Ben Fotino just laughed. "Ha ha! Will you just look at that?"

As Star flipped the leg onto her shoulder, the damage became visible. The duracrete floor of the workshop had cracked, a large divot in the center from where the heel of the foot had connected.

"Wow!" Star said, impressed.

Fotino pointed at the prosthetic. "Now check out the leg."

Star slid the appendage off of her shoulder and inspected the heel closely. The metal was not even so much as scratched. "Oh, man! You can't even tell!"

"Like I said. Indestructible." The cybernetics maker clapped his hands together again. "Now, we gots the leg, we gots the shroud, I gots my tools, let's get this thing on. But before we can get the new thing on, we gotta get the old one off!"

From his reclined angle on the table, Marco could not see what Fotino was doing. He could only hear the various shuffling and clinking as Ben riffled through his tools on the cart behind him.

"Ah, here it is!" Ben held up the device he had been looking for high enough that Marco could see it over the partition. The Padawan instantly felt faint. The contraption in Fotino's hands was almost beyond description, having several different sharp ends and grasping devices, and appearing as diabolical as the late General Grevious himself.

"St-St-St-Star!"

Star set the leg down on the floor leaning against the side of the examination-turned-operating table and took Marco's hand, standing at the end behind his head so that he would be forced to look as far away from his leg and Ben Fotino as possible in order to see her. "Don't worry, Marco. I'm here."

"Okay! Here we go!" Fotino loudly announced.

Star squeezed Marco's hand and he kept his gaze locked on her, his eyes nervous but calm. "I'm here, Marco. I'm here."

Ben cackled loudly and set to work.

* * *

A tiny astromech droid-controlled speeder slowed to a halt in front of the counter where the crew of the _Raventalon _waited with Han. The speeder towed behind it the new Starboard engine, floating on a pair of repulsorlift dollies. It was far too wide and tall to fit through the door they had entered through, let alone the alleyway outside.

"Um...how in the galaxy are we gonna get this thing back to the ship?" Tom asked. "We can't bring that on the subway!"

"Reflectacorp has complementary component transportation service!" C-HRS3 explained.

Janna raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You're really gonna transport this stuff all the way back to Mewni for us?"

"Oh, no, you misunderstand. Allow me to elaborate." The droid reached into a drawer behind the counter and retrieved a data card, which it handed to Janna. "This card contains a one-time-use landing clearance code for a private docking bay here in Coronet City. Bring your ship there, and when you arrive, your new parts will already be there waiting for you, escorted by Reflectacorp's private security detail."

Janna whistled appreciatively. "Man, you undersold this place, Han! The service here is ridiculous!"

Tom nodded in agreement. "I'll say!"

Han shrugged sarcastically. "What can I say? I like my recommendations to come off as surprisingly good."

"Here at Reflectacorp, customer service is our number one priority!" C-HRS3 happily told them.

PY-HD gave a low beep that translated in some fashion as a sarcastic, "Yeah, we can see that."

Janna counted out the credit chips and slid the stacks across the counter to the purple protocol droid, who carefully picked them up cupped between both hands. "Please be patient. I will return shortly." And with that, it shuffled off through a doorway behind the counter.

Janna closed the carrying case containing the remainder of the credit chips and handed it to Han. "Do me a favor? Hold onto this and stay with the, uh, 'security detail' and our parts until Lucy and I come back with the ship."

Han flashed her a trustworthy smile. "I will protect it with my life."

C-HRS3 returned, accompanied by three assassin droids. "These fine employees of Reflectacorp will be escorting your parts to the docking bay," the protocol droid told them. The assassin droids waved in greeting.

"If you don't mind, my associate here will join them," Janna said.

"As you wish! Here at Reflectacorp, the customer is always right! Unless, of course, they aren't."

"Mm'kay." Janna turned to her copilot. "Alright, Lucy, let's grab our blasters and go get the ship."

"Right behind you."

PY-HD twittered that it was "following along, too, not that anyone asked."

"Thanks, Seahorse," Janna called back. "See you shortly, Han."

The young teen waved back. "Just don't keep me waiting!"

As soon as the others were out of earshot, Tom asked, "You're really comfortable with letting that guy you haven't so much as spoken to in _years_ hang on to that case full of _our _money that I'm still not even comfortable accepting?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"For the same reason I was fine with you carrying it."

"Oh...which is...?"

Janna ignored the question.

They reached the vestibule where IG-33 was waiting for them. Once the door to the warehouse had closed behind them, the assassin droid unlocked the wall safe and returned their blasters. Then it opened the exterior door to let them back out into the alley.

"Thank you for your patronage," IG-33 droned. "Please remain alive until you have taken delivery of your purchase." Then it closed the door behind them.

"Cheery droid," Tom quipped.

"C'mon, Lucy," Janna grumbled, not paying even the slightest bit of attention to Tom's words. "Let's get a move on so we can get off this dumb rock."

Tom elected to remain silent and followed after her.

**The part numbers for the hyperdrives and sublight engines are real part numbers from car parts...except I wrote this so long ago that I don't remember what those parts were.**


	28. The Corellian Inquisition

Despite the fact that Marco could not actually feel anything that Ben Fotino was doing on the other side of the partition, he scrunched his eyes closed as if in tremendous pain, refusing to relinquish his grip on Star's hand during the entire procedure. To the young human Padawan, it seemed to take forever for Ben to finish. In reality, the installation of his new prosthetic leg took less than twenty minutes.

Star was quite grateful when Ben flipped up his goggles and announced, "Whelp, that'll do 'er!" because her hand was starting to ache from Marco's relentless grip. He loosened his grasp on her hand, prompting her to quickly pull her aching appendage away and massage her fingers with the opposite hand. "Sheesh, Marco."

The human Padawan cautiously opened his eyes. "It's done?"

"Yep! Sure is!" Ben grabbed the pole that suspended the curtain partition over Marco's body and haphazardly flung it away, a loud crash resonating from the pile of old droid parts where it landed. "Whatdya think?"

Marco hesitantly raised his head off the table in order to see the lower half of his body. The cybernetic leg was attached to the existing end of his left leg just below the knee, the transition from flesh to the black metal skeletal structure protected by a synthetic mesh band fused directly to both skin and metal. He subconsciously wiggled the toes on his right foot, and then, without even realizing what he was doing, wiggled the toes of his left, and the mechanical digits emitted a soft clicking sound as they flicked up and down just as real ones would.

"Whoa..."

Pushing himself up to a sitting position, Marco slowly flexed his new limb at the knee. Star gently placed her hand on his shoulder as her best friend tested out the motion of his new leg.

"How does it feel?" she asked.

"It...It feels...natural. The motions, the way I can feel what it's doing..." Marco reached out and touched the covering mid-shin, and he could feel his hand on the metal just as he would be able to on his original leg. "It feels...real."

He swung his legs over the side of the examination table.

"You just be careful on that there first step, Sonny," Ben warned as he wiped off his tools. "It's gonna be a might shaky until you get a feel for it."

"Oh, right," Marco said, remembering his first experience walking on the prosthetic Janna had made. He looked at Star. "Star, would you mind-?"

She plopped down beside him, snaking her right arm under both of Marco's to help support him when he stood. "I gotcha, Marco!"

Very cautiously, Marco slid off the table until his feet touched the floor. When he pushed away from the table, he nearly collapsed, but Star supported him and helped him gain his balance. Marco took a cautious step, leading with his cybernetic leg, and felt surprisingly sure of his balance as he followed through.

"Star...I think you can let go."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

Star pulled her arm away and Marco stood on his own. While the initial step had been awkward after having become used to walking on the low-tech leg Janna had made, the new prosthetic was so well-tuned and properly linked to his nervous system that Marco very quickly felt like he was standing on his own two natural feet. He took a slow step, and then another, and then another. He walked a little bit faster, a confident smile working its way into his face while Star and Ben Fotino watched him feel out his new limb.

And then, he took off running, a full lap around the workshop as fast as his legs would carry him, ending his short sprint by somersaulting over the examination table (with a little boost from the Force) and sticking the landing on the other side.

"Woo hoo!" he cheered.

Star laughed. "How ya feeling there, Marco?"

"I feel fantastic!" he replied, dancing a little jig on the duracrete floor. "Ben, I gotta hand it to you. I've never felt better!" He quickly grasped Ben Fotino's hand and shook it. "Thank you!"

"Much obliged! Happy to do it!" the cybernetics technician said. "Now, uh, I do believe there was some mention of, uh, payment?"

"Oh!" Star yelped. "Yes! Right! I almost forgot!"

* * *

"Wow," Marco said, "I was just starting to think to myself that Ben wasn't such a creep after all, but..." He gritted his teeth together, cringing. "Yikes."

"Yeah...I've never seen anyone _bathe_ in credit chips before," Star replied, glancing back at Fotino's building as they walked away down the first street.

"Maybe you overpaid him a little?"

"Nahhhh. Didn't you see how happy he was?"

"A little too happy, maybe."

Star shrugged. "Oh, well. So, Mr. Diaz," she said bounding in front of him and blocking his path to stop him from walking any further. "How do feel? Ready to take on the whole Empire with that fancy new leg of yours?"

"Honestly, I feel _amazing!"_ said Marco as he bounced up and down. "I feel like I've got a super boost!"

"What do you say we put that thing through its paces, then?" Star said. She pointed to his feet. He only wore a boot on his right foot as the other had been lost with his leg on Moraband. "I'll race you to the shoe maker to get you some new footgear."

"You're on! Oh, wait, except I-"

"Readysetgo!" Star yelled, and took off down the street, weaving in and out of the other pedestrians. Before Marco even fully realized what was happening, Star was out of sight.

Marco sighed. "-I don't know where the shoe maker is."

* * *

"Could you please try to restrain yourself from threatening to kill someone at just one repair shop we check?"

Security Officer Rosado posed the question to the inquisitor as they left the shop of yet another terrified Starship mechanic who had not seen the elusive YV-560 freighter.

"I could, but it's entertaining." The inquisitor faced him. "And, in case you hadn't noticed yet, I am beyond bored." It groaned, a disdainfully evil sound through the voice-modifier in the mask. "How many more places do we have to check?"

"No more here in Coronet City," Rosado said slowly. "But we have plenty more to check other places on the planet."

"Fine. Just let's move on," the inquisitor sighed. "Back to the maglev, I guess. Stupid public transit."

* * *

"Thank the Force that Han knew a place that had both drives and the engine and we didn't have to shop around," Janna said as their walk back to the maglev station neared its end. "We're gonna be here less than a day."

Tom checked his chronometer. Only about seven and a half hours had passed since they'd landed. "You sure got your wish."

"Oh, you have no idea, Dude."

Tom smiled, glad his best friend was so happy, and simultaneously feeling guilty for joking that she was emotionless their first night on Mewni. Janna actually seemed to be walking with a little bit of a spring in her step, something he'd only ever seen her do after receiving a very large payout from a client. "I gotta say, though," he went on, "that was without a doubt the nicest black market distributor I've ever seen. Makes me wish more of our clients were like that!"

"It was almost too nice," Janna agreed, as they turned the corner. The maglev station came into view just ahead and PY-HD emitted a thankful groan. "And I'm glad that it was this time because we got in and out fast, but if our entire customer base was that friendly and professional, our job would be really, really, really boring."

Tom shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It would make it a lot easier, though."

* * *

"Heh. That chick in front of us gets it," muttered the inquisitor.

Rosado wasn't paying attention to the pair of teenagers and their astromech who had just turned out in front of them from a side street several paces ahead. He couldn't even hear them. The inquistor only could because of the sound filters in its helmet. The Security Officer was staring at his datapad as they walked, busily mapping out the ship repair shops they would be checking at their next location. "Hmm? What girl?"

"Right there," pointed the inquisitor. "Walking with the demonicite."

"A demonicite?" Rosado looked up from his datapad at the being in front of him with purple skin and horns amidst a shock of red hair. "Huh. I don't think I've ever seen a demonicite before."

"They almost never leave their home planet of Wolddunerr because they're specifically adapted to its atmosphere and can't survive off-world. I think that guy must be only half-demonicite, otherwise he'd be dead."

"Huh. Interesting." Rosado turned his attention back to the datapad in his hands, glancing up occasionally to make sure he didn't bump into anything.

The inquisitor groaned. _Of all the officers to get stuck with_...

They'd reached the maglev station. Commuter traffic was light this time of day, so the line at the ticket window was short. The inquisitor and its associate followed the odd pair and their astromech in joining the line. The Jedi hunter briefly considered using its Imperial credentials - or maybe just its lightsaber - to skip the line, but Rosado was still busy on his datapad and didn't seem to have any qualms with waiting, so the inquisitor stood with its arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

As the human and demonicite stepped up to the window to purchase their tickets, the inquisitor was busy thinking about its quarry. _They ran from Coruscant...cowards...and were struck with a missile as they jumped to hyperspace...there's no way they aren't space dust. What a dumb assignment this is. Chasing after phantoms. Might as well have me trying to locate Darth Revan. They're gone! Dead! Pulverized! What a waste of my talents. _

_Unless-_

"Next patron, please approach," droned the droid behind the ticket window.

It's current train of thought broken, the inquisitor roughly grabbed Rosado by the arm and dragged him up to the counter. The Security Officer had been so engrossed in mapping their route on his datapad that he hadn't noticed they'd been called up.

"Gah!" he yelped as the inquisitor's rough yank on his arm threw off his balance. "What?" he asked indignantly.

"Tell the droid where we're going."

"Oh, right." Rosado slid the datapad into the small satchel he carried over his shoulder and addressed the droid. "Two for Bella Vistal, please."

"Yes, sir. Please allow me to scan your identification." Rosado slid his Imperial credentials under the window. The droid briefly looked at it, saw that he was an Imperial Officer, and slid the identification back to its owner without bothering to scan it. "One moment please," it said, "while I print your-"

_"-Star-"_

The inquisitor, who was barely paying any attention to the droid behind the ticket window, tensed up as a single word, spoken by an unseen being nearby and picked up and amplified by the helmet on its head, cut through all of the surrounding noise and reached its ears.

_Star...Star Butterfly? Could it be...?_

But was the unknown person speaking of the Jedi Padawan, or something else? The inquisitor had only heard a single word out of a sentence, there was no way of knowing. It quickly put a hand to the side of the helmet near its ear, gloved fingers carefully manipulating a noise filter control, trying to find the voice it had heard speak the name of its quarry.

_"-for dinner later tonight."_

_"-really rushing production on these capital ships-"_

_"-know? Maybe you should-"_

_"-does sound like something Star would do."_

That last one. There it was. That was the same male voice as before, and it had indeed spoken Butterfly's first name.

And the inquisitor knew exactly who that voice belonged to. It had heard that voice before.

Frantically, the inquisitor scanned the crowd, searching for the pair of horns within a thicket of red hair that would instantly identify the one who spoke of Star Butterfly.

The demonicite. There he was, walking with the girl in the faded, dark green beanie hat and that weird blue-and-pink astromech droid, stepping onto the lift that ferried passengers down to the subway platform with six other riders.

_Gotcha. _

Leaving her associate still standing at the ticket window completely in the dark, the inquisitor took off running. Halfway there, the lift door began to close.

"No!"

But it was too late. The lift door fully shut before the inquisitor could reach it.

"Karabast!"

To the left was a set of stairs, descending to the station platform beside the lift. Without so much as a moment's hesitation, the inquisitor bolted for the staircase, jumping down as far as possible without hitting its head on the ceiling and sliding down the rest of the way on the center handrail.

_You won't escape me that easily._

* * *

The droid pushed the tickets for the maglev subway under the window into Rosado's waiting hand. "Thank you," Rosado said. He had a habit of thanking helpful droids despite the fact that no one else did and thought him crazy for doing so. It was just in his nature.

Rosado had not willingly joined the Empire. He had served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone War, having enrolled in officer's training shortly after the First Battle of Geonosis and rising to the rank of Captain. He never once saw combat, his duties mainly involving sitting behind a desk in an office on Coruscant and keeping track of supply requisites and ordinance distribution, politely asking the clones under his command to load such-and-such crates of whatever onto this ship or that one. He had a relatively high security clearance because he needed to know what was actually _in _the containers he was transporting and where they were headed to. So, when the Imperial reorganization came about, some higher-up noticed he had high security clearance and a perfect service record and promoted him to Imperial Security Officer, First Class. He was put in charge of a squadron of stormtroopers tasked with locating security breaches and "eliminating them."

He never really cared for the way that part of his new job description was worded.

And so, the guy who had been known as the nicest guy in the Republic Army had somehow ended up working with an_inquisitor_, the most ruthless fighters on the Empire's payroll, searching for a pair of fugitive Jedi, with a squadron of stormtroopers waiting on the light cruiser in orbit in the event they were needed.

"My pleasure, Sir," the droid droned in reply.

Rosado turned away from the window just in time to see the inquisitor sprinting toward the stairs and vaulting down. He didn't have the slightest idea what it could possibly be after, but if something had the Jedi hunter worked up enough to leap down the stairs like that, it probably wasn't anything good.

"Oh, boy."

He quickly pocketed the tickets and hurried toward the stairs. _  
_

* * *

Launching off the end of the handrail onto the platform and startling a weequay so badly that the poor man nearly fell off the edge onto the maglev track, the inquisitor quickly looked up and down both ends of the station, searching for the demonicite. It spotted the teenager to the right and took off toward him. Foot traffic on the platform was marginally light and it was not difficult for the inquisitor to juke to and fro between the waiting passengers as it sprinted toward the casually strolling teens and their astromech.

When the targets were only a few meters away, the inquisitor jumped toward the wall, carrying enough momentum to run on the vertical surface past the pair and their droid, and then jumped in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.

The demonicite's expression rapidly morphed from startled to genuine fear, and the droid squealed loudly in terror. The human girl remained relatively calm, simply muttering, "Oh, kriff."

"You two!" the inquisitor growled, sticking a demanding finger in their faces, "Where are Butterfly and Diaz?!"

* * *

"Think they'll be surprised we're back so soon?"

"Probably. They didn't even have enough time to miss us yet."

"Ha, yeah. Though, if we're being honest, we probably could have been gone for ten minutes and Star still would react as if she hadn't seen us in a year."

"Yup. Sounds about right. I bet she throws us a welcome home party."

"Ha! That does sound like something Star would do!"

That was the exchange between Tom and Janna that had started the trouble. All it had taken was Tom uttering Star's name twice within earshot of the inquisitor for the Jedi hunter to spring into action. Now that very same black-clad being was standing in their path, and demanding, "Where are Butterfly and Diaz?!"

They both recognized the inquisitor as the unknown being that had pursued Marco on Coruscant, and Tom was understandably terrified, frozen to the spot and unable to speak.

Janna, on the other hand, never wavered. "Butterfly? Diaz? Are those supposed to be names?" She couldn't help but smirk as she calmly lied through her teeth.

"Don't play dumb with me!" the inquisitor's synthetic voice barked. "I know you know where they are!"

"No idea who or what you're talking about, dude."

"Your mate's expression here says otherwise," it said, taking note of the nervous beads of sweat forming on Tom's forehead.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, just a second there!" Janna waved her arms defensively. "He is _not_ my mate!"

PY-HD bleeped something sarcastic.

"Not now, Pony. Don't go jumping to conclusions, he's just my business partner."

Somehow completely forgetting that they were being threatened by a clearly murderous Imperial agent, Tom felt rather disappointed. "I thought I was your best friend."

"Well, I mean, sure, but is this really the time to get into semantics?"

"Enough!" The inquisitor raised its hands and slowly closed its palms into fists. Both Janna and Tom suddenly felt intense pressure closing in on their throats, instantly unable to breathe. They gagged and choked, slowly floating up off of the platform, dangling in the air from the inquisitor's Force-grip on their windpipes, fruitlessly clutching at their necks trying to loose the invisible fingers. PY-HD squealed in panic having no idea what to do, as passersby stopped and stared in shock at two levitating teenagers.

"Tell me or die! Where are Butterfly and Diaz?!"

Tom and Janna couldn't have answered even if they wanted to, the crushing Force-choke holding their voices hostage. Worse still, they were unable to breathe. Janna was sure if the inquisitor continued much longer, she would definitely pass out from the lack of oxygen.

"Inquisitor!"

The shout came from a man in the uniform of an Imperial officer currently running up to the scene.

"Inquisitor, what are you doing?" Rosado asked in panic as he watched the floating teenagers gasping for breath.

"They know where the Jedi are!" growled the inquisitor.

"Okay, but how are they ever going to answer you if they can't breathe?! You're going to kill them and lose the only lead we've got!"

Much as the inquisitor hated to admit it, Rosado had a point. She released her connection to the Force and the two teenagers dropped to the platform on their hands and knees. PY-HD rolled over between them to make sure they were alright while Tom and Janna gasped for air.

Before his partner could do anything further, Rosado stepped between the inquisitor and the young smugglers, kneeling down on the ground directly in front of Janna. Beside them, a maglev train pulled up to the platform and slowed to a stop. A set of boarding doors was just a meter behind Janna, with PY-HD and Tom between her and the train.

"Ma'am, please," Rosado said to Janna, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're only looking for Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz. No one else needs to get hurt. Please, please tell us where they are."

Still panting hard to regain her breath, Janna slowly brought her right leg forward, placing her foot flat on the ground beneath her as if she were about to try to rise to her feet.

"Please, Ma'am."

Janna raised her head and met Rosado's friendly eyes. Even she had to admit that he didn't appear to mean her any harm. In fact, he seemed like a normal guy just doing his job.

So she aimed for his leg instead of his throat.

With carefully practiced blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed, Janna pressed a hidden ejection button on the heel of her right boot, causing the handle of a tiny, narrow-bladed knife concealed in the sole to pop out enough for her to grab it. She snatched up the tiny blade and, before Security Officer Rosado could figure out what she was doing, plunged the blade through the fabric of his trouser leg and into his left calf.

"AAAUGH!"

As the Imperial Officer fell over onto his side in pain, Janna sprang to her feet and shoved PY-HD into Tom, hauling the demonicite to his feet as she pushed them into the waiting open door of the maglev.

"Move move move!"

"NO!" the inquisitor shrieked.

Janna's timing was perfect. The doors slid closed right behind her and the maglev started away from the platform.

The inquisitor was furious. "Idiot!"

Leaving its partner on the station platform with a knife sticking out of his leg, the inquisitor shoved off with the Force, vaulting into the air and landing on the roof of the last maglev car as it passed.

* * *

Janna tripped as she hastily pushed her companions through the door to board the maglev, accidentally knocking Tom and PY-HD over and then falling on top of them. The heap of fallen teenagers received disgusted looks from other passengers on the train as it accelerated out of the station.

Tom pulled himself out from beneath Janna and hauled PY-HD back upright. "Soooo that was easily the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me."

"Yeah, that was intense. What-slash-who the kriff _is_ that thing?" Janna asked as she got back to her feet.

"I have no idea. And how did it know we're friends with Star and Marco?" Tom asked. PY-HD bleeped in annoyance. Tom patted the droid's dome. "Yeah, I hear ya, Pony. Hey, Janna, is there any chance we're on the right train? Just by chance?"

"I don't think there's any chance we are. I believe we're actually going the opposite direction by chance."

Another annoyed series of beeps came from PY-HD.

"Your droid says to please stop saying 'chance,'" growled a grumpy dowutin squeezed into the seat facing opposite the door.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything further, the door at the rear end of the maglev car slid open to reveal the inquisitor, who, despite having its expression completely covered by its helmet, managed to appear seething with anger.

"Oh, no!" Tom groaned, the color draining from his face.

Not taking the time to hesitate, Janna quickly whipped out one of her blasters and fired a single shot down the center isle of the car, causing the handful of passengers on board to duck for cover. In the blink of an eye, the inquisitor had a red lightsaber ignited and deflected the blue bolt of energy directly back at Janna's blaster.

"Gah!" she yelled as the bolt knocked the blaster out of her hand. The DC-17 clattered to the floor and skittered out of sight beneath one of the long bench seats lining both sides of the car.

And then the inquisitor sprinted forward.

"Okay, run!" Janna said, turning and taking off toward the forward end of the car. Tom followed close behind, PY-HD rolling faster than Janna could run and beating her to the door at the front end of the car. The droid tilted its body forward, using the spike atop its head to press the activation panel to open the door before its organic companions could reach it.

Following after PY-HD, Janna jumped over the uneven vestibule between the cars, clearing it completely. Tom followed suit, but unfortunately did not land beyond the vestibule in the next car. Instead, he landed just before the door, the toe of his boot catching on the sliding door track. He fell forward, crashing to the floor flat on his face. He never even had a chance to stand up before the inquisitor was upon him.

"OOH!" Tom groaned as the fearsome Jedi hunter landed on his back, pinning him to the floor with its knee.

"Gotcha!"

The red lightsaber blade found its way across the back of his neck, its tip burning a hole into the floor, forcing Tom to keep his right cheek plastered to the dirty low-pile carpeting.

Janna didn't realize what was happening until she glanced back while opening the door at the opposite end of the car. She watched as the inquisitor slowly moved the plasma blade of her weapon closer to Tom's neck, singeing the hairs on the back of his head.

"Now, for the last time," the inquisitor whispered with cruel malice in its synthetic voice. "Where. Are. Butterfly and Diaz?"

A series of deadpan beeps came from PY-HD which Janna translated to mean, "Well, Tom's dead."

But Captain Ordonia ignored the comment. "Pony. Lightsaber."

The astromech beeped again to convey, "Whatever. Your funeral." A panel in the top of its dome opened and Marco's lightsaber hilt rose up from within.

Janna took hold of it.

"This is your last chance, kid," the inquisitor growled, twitching the lightsaber blade so close to Tom's neck that he could nearly feel it burning into his skin. His eyes scrunched tightly shut, every muscle in his body tense, Tom wondered if the Jedi hunter would spare his life if he gave up his friends or if it would just kill him regardless. "Where are those brats?!"

"YAAAAAAAA!"

The inquisitor looked up to see Janna running at it full-bore, the green blade of the lightsaber in her hand igniting as she swung the weapon, aiming to bisect its mask. The inquisitor raised its own sword and when the red and green sabers clashed, they locked together as Janna pressed against her copilot's assailant.

"Now isn't this interesting," the inquisitor chuckled. "Borrowed one of your friends' weapons, I see. Let's see how you handle that thing."

Janna sneered, "Bring it."

Still holding back Captain Ordonia's pressing attack, the inquisitor rose to its feet, leaving Tom laying on the floor. Then it raised its hand and pushed Janna two meters backwards with the Force, breaking their lock. Janna stumbled but kept her balance, gritting her teeth as she adjusted her grip on the lightsaber hilt and narrowing her eyes at her opponent.

The inquisitor held its blade at the ready, doing it's best to intimidate Captain Ordonia. Then it lunged forward, swinging the blade hard toward Janna's left shoulder. The move was a bit overly telegraphed, the inquisitor not actually intending on killing its opponent since, as Rosado had reminded it earlier, they needed information from them, and Janna had plenty of time to block the strike. The clash was intense, though, and she nearly lost her grasp on the hilt. The next strike came from overhead, and this time Janna more properly braced herself. The lightsaber stayed firmly in her grasp this time, but she was not awarded an opportunity to strike back.

Three more strikes followed in quick succession. A slash from high left, up from down right, and then one more from overhead. Had Marco been the one dueling the inquisitor, he would have found the strikes slow and easily countered. To non-Force-sensitive Janna, however, the blows were nearly too quick for her to block.

When the inquisitor's next attack came, Janna's deductive reaction was that it would be better to jump out of the way instead of continuing to face-off against a duelist of far greater skill and experience. A quick step backwards was Janna's choice, the tip of the inquisitor's crimson blade passing barely a centimeter in front of her nose.

Janna blocked the next slash, and stepped backwards away from the next again. Block, step, block, step, as she backed away from the inquisitor, the Jedi hunter following her every step. She backed her way into the next car forward, ducking and dodging more and more of the inquisitor's slashing attacks as the blows came even quicker. Seeing the engagement abruptly burst through the door, the occupants of this car broke into a panic, quickly running into the next car forward to avoid becoming caught up in the fray.

At one point, Janna ducked under a horizontal slice that carried the inquisitor's blade far around toward its back. Seeing an opportunity, she quickly slashed upward from her side, aiming for the midsection of the inquisitor's suit, but to her surprise, the attack was blocked. The inquisitor had sensed the blade approaching and called its second lightsaber from its belt into its hand, igniting it just in time to counter Janna's strike.

Both opponents froze. Janna hesitantly backed slowly away, eyes locked on the black expressionless mask staring back at her.

"Heh heh heh. Big mistake, kid."

"Oh, crud."

The inquisitor lowered both blades and gave each a vertical spin before briskly advancing toward Janna. The teenager quickly walked backwards, trying to keep enough distance between herself and the inquisitor to stay beyond the range of the pair of red lightsabers, countering the few attacks that came close enough to hit her.

But then, Janna tripped over a piece of luggage that someone had left lying in the center corridor. She did not fall, but the stumble allowed the inquisitor to close the gap between them, and now Janna was too close to possibly avoid or counter every single one of her opponent's attacks. So, she did the only thing she could do.

She ran for it.

Janna spun on her heel and bolted for the door at the head end of the car. The inquisitor followed close behind, the tips of its twin blades dragging on the floor, burning a track into the carpet.

The doors between this car and the next were both open already from the rapid exodus of the passengers, a fact that Janna was quite grateful for because the inquisitor was faster on foot than she was. Passing into the next car forward, Janna heard a light _whoosh_ and then a _crash! _She looked back to see what had made the sound and tripped over a thisspiasian passenger's long tail lying in the center of the aisle. She instinctively dropped Marco's lightsaber on her way down so that she would not land on the blade, crashing to the floor. She quickly rolled over, expecting to see the inquisitor preparing to pounce on her, but the fearsome Jedi hunter was no where to be seen. What Janna did see was that the door leading into the vestibule between cars behind her had closed, and PY-HD was sitting beside it beneath the activation panel, having activated the door and closed it as Janna passed through.

On the other side of the door, the inquisitor had been running full-speed in pursuit of Janna when the door into the next car had unexpectedly closed right in front of it. It crashed into the door helmeted-face-first with enough momentum to bounce off and fall over backwards, lightsabers switching off as they clattered to the floor.

The thisspiasian looked down at Janna. "Sorry, young lady."

"It's cool. No worries." Janna quickly hopped to her feet and grabbed Marco's lightsaber from where it had fallen. "Thanks for the save, Pony Head."

The droid twittered something, clearly frantic to get away. Janna pulled her remaining blaster from its holster inside of her jacket and blasted the door control, effectively sealing the door closed and earning shocked gasps from the passengers aboard this maglev car.

On the other side, the inquisitor was pounding on the door control, trying in vain to make the door open. Frustrated, it reignited its lightsabers and plunged one into each side of the door.

Janna jumped backwards in surprise as the twin crimson blades suddenly jutted through the door toward her, slowly moving downward to slice the door completely away. "Time to go, Pony!"

The droid chittered in agreement and they took off down the center aisle of the train. They made it clear into the next car before the inquisitor tore the now loose door free and took off in pursuit. Janna and PY-HD continued through the train as fast as they could until they reached the lead maglev car.

A frantic PY-HD inquired, "Okay, now what? There's no where else to go."

That was a valid question to which Janna did not have an answer. Through the viewscreen that looked forward along the maglev track, she noticed that at some point the train had risen from its subterranean tunnel and was now racing along above ground.

"Roof it is."

Janna clipped Marco's lightsaber to her belt and slid her blaster back inside her jacket as she stalked over to the set of boarding doors on the right side of the train. On the bulkhead beside the doors was a red handle labeled "For Emergency Exit Only." She flipped the handle down and heard a _*ka-chunk* _as the mechanical latch that held the doors closed was released. When she pushed on the doors, they easily parted in the center, sliding into the bulkhead on either side and blasting the interior of the speeding maglev with a rush of late evening air.

Janna stuck her head out the opening, quickly grabbing her hat as the wind rushing past threatened to blow it off of her head. Looking up, she shielded her eyes against the low Corellian sun, searching for something to use as a handhold by which she could hoist herself up onto the roof. The streamlined maglev did not offer much in the way of external apparatuses. The only thing Janna could see was the antenna through which the automated train transmitted its current position and received emergency stop signals.

"Pony, quick, give me your grapple cable."

Giving a compliant chatter, the droid opened a small compartment on the front of its body. Inside was a suction cup attached to the end of a thin, braided steel cable-reinforced vacuum tube. Working as quickly as she could, Janna pulled out several meters of cable from the reel inside of PY-HD's body. Holding the cable about a meter from the suction cup end, and holding onto the hand hold on the inside of the bulkhead beside the doorway, Janna leaned out the side of the speeding maglev. She gave the cable a twirl to build up some momentum before giving it a toss. Her aim was perfect. The cable wrapped once around the antenna, the suction cup landing face down and attaching to the smooth streamlined roof.

"Nailed it! Okay, Ponyhead, I'll climb up the cable and then you reel it in and winch yourself up after me."

The astromech bleeped affirmatively, and Janna began hoisting herself up the cable to the roof. When she reached the top and had a solid stance on the flat roof, she gave the cable two hard tugs to let PY-HD know to follow her.

The droid began reeling in its cable, swinging out the door as the contour of the roof pulled its feet off the floor.

The door to the lead maglev car slid open and the inquisitor stepped through, knowing that its quarry had run out of room to flee. "Where are you?" It scanned the interior of the car with its eyes beneath its mask, wondering where the girl was hiding.

And then it spied the open boarding door, the wind rushing in, and the legs of a blue-and-pink astromech droid ascending past the top of the doorway.

"Gotcha."

But instead of following, the inquisitor backtracked to the previous car, where it yanked open the door to the refresher.

"Yaaa!" cried the Mon Calamari passenger inside.

The inquisitor cared not for the man's privacy. It grabbed the Mon Cala by the collar of his shirt and yanked him out of the tiny refresher, tossing him onto the floor. Stepping into the 'fresher, it spied what it was looking for: the ventilation hatch.

Janna and PY-HD abruptly halted in their tracks as the hatch in the roof just in front of them suddenly flew open. Propelled by the Force, the inquisitor nimbly leapt straight up through it, landing on the roof just in front of the human girl and her droid.

"Going somewhere?"

Carefully stepping backwards away from the Jedi hunter, Janna grabbed Marco's lightsaber from her belt, the emerald blade hissing to life in her hand. PY-HD hid behind her.

A pair of crimson blades ignited in response, the inquisitor pointing the tip of one directly at Janna's nose. "Enough games!" the inquisitor yelled over the wind rushing past. "Where are those two Jedi?"

The only response the inquisitor received was an overhead swing from a green lightsaber blade carrying all of the strength Janna could muster. It crossed the lightsabers in front of itself, catching Janna's blade in the valley between them. The three blades locked together, the grinding of the clashing plasma audibly loud even over the wind. Janna pressed Marco's lightsaber against the inquisitors' with all of her strength, groaning as she strained, gritting her teeth. But, without the Force as her ally to strengthen her, she was no match for the inquisitor.

"You can't beat me, kid! Just give it up!"

"Never!"

Janna angled the lightsaber downward and tried to push it forward through the cross of the inquisitor's blades into her opponent's mask. The inquisitor narrowly jumped out of the way, breaking their stalemate.

The inquisitor smiled beneath its helmet. "Someone thinks they're clever." It twirled its blades again. "It's on now."

Janna held onto the lightsaber for dear life as the inquisitor swung its blades in unison against hers. The collision carried so much force behind it that Janna was knocked backwards a step. She blocked again, and then again, and then again, each clash forcing her to step backwards just to keep her balance.

And then she bumped into PY-HD. The droid had been backing up with her, but had run out of room to retreat. It stood right on the front edge of the lead maglev car. It could go no further.

"No where left to run, kid," the inquisitor said simply. "Give it up."

Janna considered her options. She could see only one.

She switched off the lightsaber, and lowered it to her side.

"Good choice. Now, this is the last time I am going to ask: Where are Butterfly and Diaz?"

Janna ignited the lightsaber.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The green blade of Marco's weapon extended toward the inquisitor's midsection. With blinding speed, the Jedi hunter swung the lightsaber in its right hand crossways in front of its body, catching the still-extending green blade near the bottom and pushing it out to the side. The swords of green and red now pointed straight out, perpendicular to the train.

"Nice try."

The inquisitor spun the lightsaber locked with Janna's upwards around the opposing blade. Janna could see what her it aimed to do. It was holding her arm in place by pinning the lightsaber blade with its own. The crimson blade in the inquisitor's left hand began to extend beneath their locked arms.

It was going to cut off her arm.

In the span of two milliseconds, Janna quickly considered her options. If her arm was severed, then she could get a sweet robotic appendage. But, she wasn't sure she would survive this encounter if she didn't have both arms with which to defend herself.

So, she did the only thing she could do.

She dropped Marco's lightsaber and fell backwards, the inquisitor's blade flashing harmlessly through the spot where her wrist had been less than a second earlier.

As she landed on her rear on the roof of the maglev beside PY-HD, she watched as the emerald blade of Marco's weapon, the lightsaber of Jedi Master Kit Fisto, extinguished as the hilt bounced off the roof. And then it was over the side of the train and vanished.

The inquisitor chuckled. "You put up a good fight, kid." It switched off its lightsabers and clipped them back to its belt. "But you lost." It raised its right hand and Janna felt the crushing grip of the Force on her throat for the second time that day. She slowly levitated up off of the roof of the maglev, clutching desperately at her neck, but she was helpless against the inquisitor's Force-choke.

"I'm going to kill you now," the inquisitor said simply. "I forgot that you had a droid. I'll just get the information I seek from it's memory banks."

PY-HD squealed in desperation.

The inquisitor chuckled again. "You know, I've never actually killed someone solely with the Force before. So much more satisfying that just cutting them down with a lightsaber."

Janna gasped for air, desperately trying to suck in a breath, but it was no use.

_I'm going to die. And I had so much more that I wanted to do..._

A bolt of green energy suddenly slammed into the inquisitor's back, knocking it forward. Janna fell from the air and collapsed onto the roof of the maglev as her attacker's concentration was broken, looking up just in time to see PY-HD race forward and crash into the off-balance black-clad Jedi hunter, knocking the inquisitor off its feet and sending it tumbling over the side of the train.

_What?_

And there, running along the top of the train toward her, was Tom.

* * *

Carefully standing on the vacc tube, Tom jumped up and grabbed the edge of the ventilation hatch opening. While demonicites were known for their upper body strength, Tom had unfortunately inherited his human father's physique, and hauling his body up through the hatch took quite a bit of effort.

He had caught up just in time to see the inquisitor throw the Mon Cala out of the refresher and had a feeling it wasn't taking a break to relieve itself. His suspicion was confirmed when he peered through the still-open 'fresher door and saw no sign of the inquisitor and an open roof ventilation hatch.

When he finally dragged himself onto the roof, he easily located Janna and the inquisitor, their blades locked together on the forward edge of the lead maglev car, one car forward from where he currently stood. PY-HD was right behind them. He was just in time to see Janna drop Marco's lightsaber, and he watched as the hilt disappeared over the side of the train.

_Oh no._

Two steps forward was all Tom had time to take before Janna rose off the roof, held aloft by her throat with the Force. Tom could do nothing but watch as Janna desperately scratched at her neck, trying in vain to release the invisible hand clutching her windpipe.

_What can I do? I can't fight that thing!_

_.__..Well..._ Tom reached into his leather jacket and retrieved his WESTAR-32 from its holster. ..._I guess...I can try to shoot it._

Tom flipped off the safety and held the blaster aloft. He silently wished to himself that he were aiming with the wind instead of against it, as the air rushing past the speeding train made it difficult to keep his hand steady and blasted him in the face, drying his trio of eyes and blurring his vision. He closed one eye, aiming squarely for the inquisitor's back.

_Please don't let me accidentally hit Janna._

Tom took a deep breath and slowly pulled the trigger.

The single bolt of green energy slammed into the inquisitor's back. It was knocked forward, dropping Janna as it's concentration was shattered, and as it stepped backwards to regain its balance, PY-HD charged forward and crashed into it, sending the fearsome executor sliding off the roof of the maglev and disappearing over the side.

Tom carefully hurried to Janna, taking care not to slip himself on the smooth surface of the roof. "Janna!"

"Tom," Janna gasped, desperately trying to refill her empty lungs. "What...what did you...do that for?"

"Ummm...what?"

"I had everything...completely...under control."

"Um...no...no, you did not."

"It...was a joke...Lucy. Clearly I...did not...have everything...under control."

"Oh. Right. Are you okay?"

Janna nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Good."

And then Tom threw his arms around Janna's shoulders, taking her completely by surprise.

"Oh...uh..." She slowly returned the embrace. "I'm glad you're okay, too."

PY-HD whistled sarcastically to say, "I'm okay, too, thanks for asking."

Tom blushed and released his friend. "So, uh, since this wasn't our train, what do we do now?"

"Well, the good news is that Corellia's transit system is one big loop, so if we stay on this long enough, eventually we'll get where we're going. It's just going to be a much, much longer trip." Janna's face suddenly turned white. "Oh, crud."

"What?"

"I just lost Marco's lightsaber. He's gonna kill me."

"Oh. Yeah, I saw that. Don't worry, I'm, uh...sure he'll understand." Tom was not quite sure that was true. "What do you say we get off the roof now?"

"Yeah, okay."

Tom stood up and offered Janna his hand, which she accepted. He helped her back to her feet. As they walked back to the refresher's ventilation hatch, she asked, "Honestly, Lucy, what took you so long?"

* * *

The inquisitor picked its head up and watched the maglev train speed off into the distance. The blaster bolt had hit it squarely in the back but had not pierced the tough armor of its suit, leaving the inquisitor very sore, but uninjured.

"I've got two more targets to hunt now. And the next time I see you two brats, I won't hesitate to end them."

**W****ow! This chapter actually has some Star Wars-ing in it!**

**"Wolddunerr" is an anagram of "Underworld."**


	29. Like Knights of Old

The sound of an approaching landspeeder reached the inquisitor's ears. From off to its right came a muted green two-seater XJ-91, very square and uninteresting in appearance, following alongside the maglev track. The speeder slowed to a stop beside it, the headlights casting a swathe of brightness in the darkness of Corellia's recently fallen night.

"It took you a very long time to get here," the inquisitor droned. "Now we've completely lost them. They could be anywhere by now."

Rosado flipped up his goggles. "I apologize, Inquisitor. I was in the middle of having this stab wound in my leg bandaged when-"

The sound of a lightsaber igniting cut off Rosado's words. The tip of a crimson blade was suddenly aimed right between his eyes. He froze as the inquisitor stared at him silently.

"Um...Inquisitor, I am, so, so sorr-"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shove this blade through your skull right now," it spoke calmly.

Security Officer Rosado swallowed hard. "Um...I have two young boys at home-"

"I don't know what makes you think I'd care about that."

"Right. Um, I alerted security forces nearby the next station up the line to intercept them."

"Oh? How many were available there?"

"...just two."

"Not good enough. Even if those kids are dumb enough to still be on the train, two stormtroopers probably won't be enough to stop that girl."

"Uh, I, uh, also thought of another way we may be able to find them again."

Several very tense seconds passed, during which time neither the Imperial Officer nor the inquisitor moved. Rosado was getting a headache from the lightsaber being so close between his eyes. He was beginning to wonder if they would ever move or if they would be frozen there like that until one of them (likely him) passed out from exhaustion. Even a maglev suddenly rocketing past on the track right next to where they silently faced off was not enough to make the inquisitor budge.

And then, after what seemed like an eternity, the inquisitor switched off its lightsaber. "Let's hear it."

Rosado breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that he had been unintentionally holding his breath the entire time. "Um, why don't you climb in and I'll tell you on the way?"

The inquisitor stared at him again. Rosado got the impression that it was glaring at him beneath its mask.

"Fine."**  
**

It circled around to the other side of the speeder and jumped into the passenger seat. "Let's hear it."

* * *

"So! Marco, my boy! How's the new leg?"

River posed the question as the Padawans sat down for dinner with the King. Queen Moon had returned to Skywynne Airbase with some dinner and pie for Eclipsa. Since it was just the three of them, they were no longer in the massive dining hall, but instead ate in the smaller private dining room where the royal family ate when not hosting guests.

"It's pretty great, actually," Marco said. "I'm kind of amazed. If I'm not looking at it or touching it, I almost can't tell it's not real. It feels completely natural." He shoveled a bite of creamed Mewni corn into his mouth. "Except for all the little clicking noises it makes."

"Little clicking noises is certainly better than all that _clomp! clomp! clomp!_-ing you were doing on the leg Janna made you!" Star laughed.

Marco chuckled. "That's true. It would certainly be difficult to be stealthy with that big hunk of metal." He turned back to River. "Um, thank you, by the way, River. I never could have afforded something so nice myself. Well, actually, I couldn't have afforded _anything_ myself.."

River shook his head. "Think nothing of it, my boy! For my daughter's boyfriend, I was happy to take care of it."

Star and Marco both rapidly blinked in surprise. Had they heard Star's father correctly?

Star began, "Did you just say-?"

"_Best _friend! I said _best_ friend!" River quickly corrected himself.

"I never even said-"

"Marco! Have you tried the jumbo megafowl? It's so moist it just melts in your mouth!" And to drive the point home and further distract from his unintentional slip of the tongue, River noisily tore off a large bite from a drumstick of the meat in question.

Star decided to change the subject before the dinner conversation could become even more awkward. "Hey, Marco, what do you say after dinner we really put that new leg of yours to the test and try out a little lightsaber combat?"

"Oh, sure! Sounds great! If my footwork and stance are still good, that'll be the real test of my new leg."

King River slammed his fist down on the table, causing all of the dishes and cutlery to rattle slightly. "Ooooohhhh! May I _please_ watch? Pretty please? I've always wanted to see real lightsaber duel! And I'd love to see my little girl in action!"

Star blushed slightly. "Well, uh, you know, you can, but, uh...Marco is way better with a lightsaber than I am, so-"

"Nonsense! My girl has her father's Johansen-Family blood in her veins!" River flexed his arms impressively. "The greatest warriors in all of Mewni!"

Despite the doubt on Star's face, Marco did not doubt the King's words. Despite Star's distaste for causing deaths, just in the time they had been on the run he had seen her perform some very impressive feats of combat. Star Butterfly was indeed a warrior, that was for sure. Her skills in saber-to-saber combat just needed a bit of work. In fact, ever since she had asked him to help her improve her skills, he had been planning out a bit of training for Star in his mind.

Seeing the look on his best friend's face, though, Marco pushed training out of his immediate thought and hatched a plan of a different sort.

"Oh, don't worry, River. Star is a straight up _beast _with a lightsaber, way better than even she gives herself credit for!" He noticed Star cringing the second the words were out of his mouth. He winked at her. "Oh, but you know what? I just realized, Star and I have actually never once dueled each other_. _Plus we're a little bit out of practice, what with being stranded on Moraband for so long, and I don't know yet how my leg is going to be in a fight-"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill you!" Star cut in a bit too enthusiastically as she realized what Marco was doing.

"Exactly what I was thinking, Star! Maybe we can just use some sticks or poles or something, and go real slow. Just until we see how things are going."

"Oh, Marco, that is a _fantastic_ idea! Love it!" _I really hope dad doesn't catch on._

Fortunately for them, the King was oblivious to their deception. He was noticeably disappointed, though. "Oh...I see. Well, it would still be interesting to watch you two in action."

"Suuuuure, Dad! Of course! I just doubt it will be anywhere near as exciting as you think it will be. Right, Marco?"

"Oh, yes, for sure." Marco quickly picked up a piece of corn bread from his plate and jammed it in his mouth, effectively eliminating him from the conversation that was quickly becoming embarrassing.

King River snapped his fingers as he was struck by an idea. "As a matter of fact, I think I know just the thing for you two to use as stand-ins for your lightsabers!"

* * *

As they headed out the rear entrance and walked onto the grounds behind Butterfly Castle, Star whispered to Marco. "Okay, look, my dad is not a night owl. Whenever I talked to Mom when we were visiting Eclipsa, she always told me he falls asleep in front of the holoviewer not long after nightfall, and the sun is already going down. So let's just, like, pretend fight a couple times, and let me win so he doesn't get too overly worked up about me not 'living up to the Johansen-Family whatever' and then once he goes to bed we can practice for real."

Marco gave his best friend a nudge with his shoulder. "Don't worry, Star. Just follow my lead, and by the time you 'kill me' you'll never have to worry about living up to your dad's expectations again. And once we've made your dad a very proud papa, I've got some new techniques for you to try that I think will really help your blade-to-blade combat skills."

"Ooh, sounds fun! Let's impress the poodoo out of my dad!"

"Yeah! By the way..." Marco lowered his voice even more as they stopped walking. "Do you think your dad figured _us_ out?"

Star touched her chin thoughtfully, recalling her dad's comments earlier at dinner. "I...am not sure..." A ripple in the Force told her that someone was approaching, and she sensed that it was her father who was drawing near. "Shh, here he comes!"

The castle's rear entrance slid open once more and King River exited, carrying a slim wooden case under his arm. "I found them!" he called.

"Found what, Dad?" Star asked as her father reached them.

He held out the case flat across his arms. "These!" He flicked the latch with his fingers and the lid popped open. Resting inside on a satin lining were a matched pair of long-bladed swords with elaborate cross-guards.

"Whoa!" Marco's eyes went wide. "They're beautiful!"

Star and Marco each picked one up, examining them closely. "Where'd you get these, Dad?" Star asked.

"They were down in the basement! Your Great-Great-Great...some number of 'Great's...grandfather, Gem-robin Butterfly-"

"That's Great-Great-something Grandma Skywynne's husband, right?" Star interrupted.

"Indeed! Apparently he was a bit of a collector, especially when it came to the Jedi Order."

"Wow!" Marco mused as he flicked around the sword he held in a spiral as he would his lightsaber. "How unexpectedly appropriate!"

"There's all kinds of junk in the basement, things he collected, a lot of it ancient Jedi artifacts that were looted from Jedi Temples and scattered across the galaxy during old wars," River explained. "These were apparently some of the very first Jedi weapons, made before the technology for lightsabers came about!"

"Coooool." Star brandished the sword toward Marco. "Maybe not as easy to carry around as a lightsaber, but I feel super-cool with this thing!"

"Yeah!" Marco said. "We're like Jedi Knights of old!"

"Yeah! Let's try these babies out!"

Marco smiled. Star's earlier feelings of apprehension toward dueling for her father had completely vanished after their conversation, and the sword in her hand seemed to have imbued some primal instinct to fight. "I'm game! But before we actually...engage...maybe we should warm up a little first?"

"Mmmmm...sounds boring..."

"Star, these things are a lot heavier than our lightsabers, they're gonna be more difficult to wield. You don't want to lose control of your weapon and leave yourself open mid-fight, do you?"

"Ughhhhh," Star groaned, rolling her eyes. But, deep down, she knew Marco was right. "Fiiiiiiine."

They moved a few more paces away from the castle and faced each other, several steps apart. Marco slowly moved his sword through the motions of Shii-Cho, familiarizing himself with its balance and weight before speeding up his motions. The heavy steel sword did not allow him to move quite as fast as he could with a lightsaber. Opposite him, Star started off doing the same classic lightsaber style movements as her bestie, but quickly grew bored and instead began fighting against an imaginary opponent, swiping her sword back and forth through the air with enough speed to create a _woosh_ of air.

After a few minutes, Marco said, "Okay, I think I'm ready."

"Me, too! Let's duel!"

"Just remember that thing is still sharp," Marco reminded her as he stepped closer and assumed his ready position.

Star took her own ready stance. "Don't worry, Marco, I got this!"

"Cut off his head, sweetie!" Both Padawans turned their heads toward where King River had sat down on a bench to spectate the fight. "Sorry, Marco, nothing personal."

Marco sighed. "No, no, it's cool. I get it." He held his sword with both hands, directly in front of him.

Star faced him, holding her blade horizontally above her right shoulder, utilizing just a singlehanded grip.

They stared each other down, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Star decided that her dad would probably appreciate her opening on the offensive and stepped forward, swinging her sword backwards, down, and then forward and up. Marco turned his blade sideways and blocked the attack, a sharp metallic _clang! _ringing out as the ancient swords clashed. He countered, swinging upwards over his head and around toward Star's left side. She easily brought her blade up to stop its travel.

Back and forth, the duel went on, both opponents moving much more slowly than they were capable of due to the weight of the heavy weapons. One would strike while the other blocked, then the roles would reverse. All the while, a starry-eyed King River watched, enthralled by the ebbs and flows of the Padawans' fight, the ringing of the crashing steel weapons echoing across the courtyard.

"Yes! That's my girl!" River called excitedly. "Get him! Get him! Yes!"

Gradually, Marco increased the sweeping motions of his stand-in lightsaber, eventually leaving him no time to strike at Star between blocks. Star was then able to strike at Marco multiple times in a row, giving off the impression that she was gaining the upper hand. Eventually, they locked their blades together. Star moved hers in a circular motion whilst pressing against her opponent's, and Marco let the sword fly out of his hands. It landed on the grass a few yards away and Star gently poked him in the belly with the blunt edge of her sword.

"Ow."

"A-Ha!" King River cried, leaping to his feet. "Good job, sweetie!"

Star took a flourishing bow. "Victory is mine! Yes! In your face, Diaz!"

Marco rolled his eyes. _I know we're trying to impress her dad, but come on! _"Alright, alright." He held out his hand and tried to call the sword back to him with the Force. It dragged across the ground as he tried his best to concentrate, becoming increasingly frustrated at how long it was taking to reach him, his weak connection to the Force making it difficult to make it move with any kind of speed.

"Grrrr..." He grit his teeth in annoyance. _C'mon, you stupid piece of-!_

Then, just as it was nearly to him, it suddenly launched off the ground. He moved his hand slightly in surprise and the hilt of the sword flew right past it, the pommel on the bottom of the hilt clobbering him square in the face.

"Argh!"

And he fell over backwards onto the ground.

"Oh my gosh, Marco!" Star dropped her sword and fell to her knees beside him. "Are you okay?"

Marco rubbed his nose where the sword had smacked him, his eyes scrunched shut in pain. His voice was slightly more nasally when he spoke. "It clocked me right in the nose." A trickle of blood dripped from his left nostril, and his nose was noticeably crooked. "Oh, man, please don't tell me I'm bleeding again. If I lose any more midichlorians..."

Star carefully cradled his head with one hand as the King came over to see what was happening. "Want me to try my Force-healing on your nose?"

_Force-healing? _River wondered to himself.

"Sure, why not?" he moaned. "Might as well give it a shot."

River watched as Star gently touched the tips of three fingers around Marco's nose. She closed her eyes and concentrated carefully. After a few moments, Marco could feel something changing on the inside of his nasal passages.

Star opened her eyes, noticing her father standing just beside her. "Do you have a handkerchief or something, Dad?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, yes, certainly!" He quickly fished his hand into his breast pocket and extracted a square of linen, which he handed to Star. She wiped the trickle of blood away from Marco's upper lip, and then checked to see if he was still leaking. After about twenty seconds, no more blood had appeared from the inside of Marco's nostril, and, while still very red, his nose had regained its original shape. River could barely believe his eyes.

"I think the bleeding stopped," Star told her injured best friend. "How does your nose feel?"

"It hurts so much that I almost can't feel it at all."

"Sorry I couldn't do more," Star said as she looked at his very red nose. It already looked swollen. "I only learned Force-healing well enough to do a little at a time."

Marco slowly rose to a sitting position, still holding his aching head. "Hey, you made me stop bleeding. Even that much is amazing." He looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, Star."

Smiling back, Star took Marco by the hand and helped him to his feet. Star thought this would be an excellent excuse to cut the faux-duel short. "Well, I think that's enough for one night, wouldn't you say so, Dad?"

River was at a loss for words at the sight of what he had just seen. He had never known that Jedi were capable of such things. "Uh, yes...quite right. Marco should get some ice on that nose of his before it blows up like a Mewni tomato, and rest. Thank you both for allowing me to watch your dueling practice. It was...very...very impressive."

"No problem, King River," Marco winced. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

As Star helped Marco back inside the castle, River retrieved the pair of swords and returned them to the wooden case. "Enjoyed it...you have no idea."

* * *

Eclipsa set the plate and silverware down on the small table beside the hospital bed. "That pie was delicious, Moon! Thank you for bringing me dinner and keeping me company."

Moon gave her sister a smile. "It's no trouble, Eclipsa. You've been all alone for so long, I didn't want you to have to be alone anymore." Her smile faded. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about, while no one else was around."

This struck Eclipsa as odd. "What is it?"

Moon sighed. She had been dreading having this conversation. "The story you told us about what happened on Endor...about how the Empire executed an entire village just because Rhombulus was hiding there. Well...it worries me."

Eclipsa had a feeling she knew where Moon was leading with this conversation, but she remained silent.

"The Empire has already been here once asking about Star. We thought for sure that she was dead. They clearly knew otherwise. What if...what if they return? If the Empire somehow discovers Star and Marco's presence here..." The Queen took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. "I'm just worried about the safety of our people. I have a responsibility to my family, but as Queen, I have a responsibility to my people, as well."

Eclipsa nodded solemnly. "I understand. I honestly wondered if returning to Mewni was a good idea at all, but I simply could think of nowhere else to go. I fear I may be putting everyone in danger myself."

Moon slowly nodded. "It certainly is a very...delicate...situation."

Eclipsa folded her hands in her lap and looked at the wall beside her bed opposite where Moon sat, where her wide-brimmed hat hung from a hook. "Indeed, it is," she said quietly.

Moon shifted slightly in the uncomfortable chair. "I'm glad that you agree. We'll have to discuss safe living arrangements for you and the children. Another time. Once Star and Marco's friends return."

"Ah, yes, Janna and Tom. And Pony Head, of course."

Moon chuckled. "You remembered," she said, assuming that Eclipsa recalled the names of the _Raventalon_'s crew from when Star and Marco had recounted their adventures to the former Senator.

"Of course I remember. I'm the one who introduced them, after all."

"What?"

"They didn't fill you in on how they met?"

Moon shook her head. "They did not, no. You introduced them?"

"I did!"

"How...how did you meet Janna and Tom?"

Eclipsa smiled and shifted herself up a little straighter on the bed, Moon thinking her sister looked downright mischievous. "I hired them, of course!"

"Hired them? You mean as in...?"

"A smuggling job, yes."

This was information that Moon found rather distressing, and she had no idea how she should react. "You...actually hired...a pair of teenagers...to smuggle something?"

"Sure did."

"...Why?"

Eclipsa shrugged. "No one ever suspects kids."

Moon pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do I even want to know what you asked them to smuggle?"

"Illegal stuff, obviously. But it wasn't even for me, it was for another senator, to get them on my side."

"So you were bribing someone?! With...contraband?" Moon was suddenly questioning Eclipsa's entire senatorial career, wondering what else her sister may have done to slander Mewni in the eyes of the Galactic Senate.

"Moon. It's the Senate. _Everyone_ is corrupt. Sometimes, the only way to get what you want is to be corrupt yourself. Just, you know...for the right reason."

That was a surprisingly convincing argument, one Moon had definitely not considered. The Mewnian government was downright puny in comparison to that of the Galactic Senate, and it was ultimately up to the Queen (and King, to a slightly lesser extent) to decide what was best for the citizens of Mewni. Having to accrue a majority vote in a senate comprised of representatives from a thousand different worlds, though? Moon had always thought that sounded nearly impossible. While she didn't agree with the dishonesty - or hiring kids to do your dirty work - even Moon had to admit that Eclipsa probably had a bit of a point.

"Anyway, Janna and Tom came by my apartment to collect their payment for the job while Star and Marco were visiting me," Eclipsa went on. "Star just immediately wants to make friends with everyone, and that's pretty much all there is to tell. Star said they went to Corellia for parts, yes?"

Moon nodded. "They did, the morning before you arrived."

"I wonder how they're getting on..."

* * *

The Corellia Mass Transit System runs in two loops, parallel to one another. One set of automated maglev trains runs in one direction, the other set on the opposing "track" runs the opposite direction. There are a few subdivisions that run directly between the largest cities, but for the most part, if you can't afford to travel to another location on-world by air, you're stuck riding the CMTS through every station stop in one direction or the other.

Tom and Janna were stuck. In their bid to escape the inquisitor, they had jumped onto the wrong train, the one running away from the city of Clefttorch, home of the spaceport where they had left the ship. They thought about getting off at the first station they stopped at and changing trains, but they were worried that if they backtracked, the inquisitor might be waiting for them. But, it didn't matter, they could ride the train all the way back around the long way. Janna had PY-HD send a coded transmission to Han via her commlink alerting him and the Reflectacorp droids that they were going to be very late to their rendezvous before settling in for the long ride. The lead car of the maglev was mostly empty, and they sat down in the furthest forward unoccupied seats.

Then Tom pointed out that all their attacker had to do was fly a ship ahead of the train, not a difficult feat, and wait for them at a station further up the line. Or it could alert any of the Imperial forces guarding the ship yards and have stormtroopers waiting to nab them at any of the station stops.

Janna scowled as she looked out the window. The train had returned to the underground and there was not much to see besides the tunnel wall. "Drat. I hate it when you're right."

Tom frowned. "Why do you-?"

"There's only one thing to do."

"I'm almost afraid to as-"

"We'll have to force this train into an emergency stop and bail out."

"...but doesn't the train transmit its position? If it stops, they'll know exactly where to look for us."

Tom watched as Janna glared at him through narrow eyes, her lips scrunched together angrily.

"Uh...Janna?"

"Could you stop being right for just a couple minutes? Please?" She let out another groan. "Fine. Then we'll just have to jump out of this moving train at speed."

"Yeah..." Tom took a turn looking out the window at the tunnel wall shooting past. "How are we going do that without...you know...dying?"

PY-HD concurred this dilemma, and there were several seconds of awkward silence before Janna finally said, "I got nothing."

Tom looked around, waiting to see if his companion would say anything else, and when she remained silent, he asked, "So...what do we do then?"

Janna shook her head and held her head in her hands. "I don't know."

_"Now arriving, Tyrena Station."_

The teenagers' eyes met. PY-HD twittered in distress.

"Well...I guess now..." Janna said dramatically as she reached into her jacket and pulled out her remaining blaster. She had found the other DC-17 in the car where they'd first encountered the inquisitor, but it had been destroyed by its own deflected blaster bolt. "...all we can do is prepare for a fight."

Tom nodded and retrieved his own weapon from his jacket. "I guess so," he replied solemnly.

As the maglev slowed entering the station, Janna positioned herself on the seat so that she faced the door - the same one she had climbed out of up to the roof earlier - her index finger resting on the trigger guard, the safety flipped off, holding the blaster between her thigh and the bulkhead so that it was out of sight. Tom held his WESTAR-32 hidden inside of his bantha leather jacket so that it, too, was hidden from view but still immediately at the ready.

As the station platform slid past the window on the opposite side of the train, Janna scanned the beings who stood there prepared to board the maglev. Lots of humans, a Twi'lek, a pair of Duros, even a Kappa, but no stormtroopers, and definitely no black-clad helmeted thing with lightsabers.

The maglev stopped. The boarding doors opened. While passengers disembarked and others climbed aboard, Janna kept her eyes locked on the set of doors across from where she and Tom sat, and Tom kept watch of the far end of the maglev car incase someone boarded from the adjoining car. There were no boarding doors on their side of the train as the other maglev track was immediately on the other side.

Only one person who had been riding in the maglev's lead car got off at Tyrena Station, and only one more, the lanky Kappa Janna had seen earlier, took a seat there. No passengers who boarded throughout the rest of the train moved into the lead car, either.

Finally, the doors closed and the maglev accelerated out of the station. Janna and Tom, having both been waiting with every muscle in their bodies tensed and ready to fight, sank down into the seat and let out equal sighs of relief.

Janna slid her remaining DC-17 back into its home inside of her jacket. "Well, that was a waste of some perfectly good adrenaline."

"I find it very difficult to believe that they didn't have someone waiting here to intercept us," Tom mused.

"Unless that thing that attacked us just thinks we'd be too stupid to stay on this train."

Janna shrugged. "Beats me. For all we know, it could be-"

_"Let me see your identification!"_

The slightly electronic voice was muffled, just barely audible, but both smugglers, and PY-HD, picked it up.

"You heard that, too, right?" Tom asked.

"Uh-Huh."

PY-HD frantically chittered that they were dead.

Janna stood from her seat and hurried to the door at the rear of the car at a crouch. She carefully peered through the window, looking across the vestibule and through the window of the adjoining car. A pair of stormtroopers were harassing a human woman and her toddler.

Janna snuck back to her companions, roughly sitting down in the seat beside Tom again. "Stormtroopers. Two of them. Next car."

"Where the heck did they come from? I didn't see them on the platform!"

"No idea. They must have climbed on from the other side of the train somehow. Question is, what do we do about them?"

"Uhhh..."

PY-HD twittered a quick suggestion.

Janna nodded. "Oh, yeah, just like that time on Nevarro. Remember, Lucy?"

"I remember. That could work."

Janna jumped back to her feet. "Let's do it."

* * *

Laying awake in bed, Marco stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. A troubling question lay heavily on his mind: How had that sword moved so fast? He was used to his connection to the Force being weak. It took a great amount of concentration and effort to make even small things move, and usually when they did, he couldn't make them move with any amount of speed. Yet, that sword had abruptly flown off the ground, taking him so much by surprise that he moved his hand and caused it to clock him in the face.

_How in the world did I do that?_ _Come to think of it...that's not the first time I've randomly been able to use the Force way more effectively than usual for a brief moment..._

The example he was remembering felt like it had happened a lifetime ago, back on Coruscant, when he and Star were scouring the abandoned industrial facility for a piece of power cable. He had blasted a locked door out of its track with the Force. At the time, he hadn't questioned it, but now, after hitting himself in the face with that sword, he couldn't help but wonder...

...about his conversation with Darth Bane's ghost.

"Pssst. Marco!"

The whisper reverberated just slightly as it reached Marco's ears. He looked up to see Star looking back at him from the air vent overhead. He sat up as she pushed open the vent and somersaulted out, landing gracefully on the floor. She was still wearing her familiar blue dress, not having changed since earlier.

"How's your nose?" she asked.

"Sore, but not too bad, honestly," he said. "Any particular reason you're sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?"

"Well..." She sat down on the edge of the bed. "My mom just got back from visiting Eclipsa, and she and my dad are asleep, soooooooo I was wondering if you wanted to sneak out to the woods and, you know...teach me some of your lightsaber moves."

Marco breathed a sigh of a relief. He wasn't sure where Star was going with that sentence when she began. "Oh! Yeah, sure!" Marco flipped the blankets off and hopped to his feet, grabbing his hoodie from where he'd hung it on the bedpost and pulling it on. He sat back down on the edge of the bed again to don his new footgear, then hopped back up again. "Okay, ready!" Then, "Oh, wait. Duh. Lightsaber. What did I do with it?"

Star mockingly gasped. "Oh my gosh! Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? The real Marco Diaz would never not know the whereabouts of his lightsaber!"

"Ha ha, very funny, Star." He checked under his pillow where he often placed it when he slept, but the space beneath the billow was empty. "Not there..." He scanned the room, not managing to spot it. "Where in the world did I leave it?" He quickly searched beneath the bed, the bedside table drawer, and even pulled back the rug to look beneath it even though it very clearly was not there. Star could see that he was becoming frantic. "Where in the galaxy did I leave it?!"

"Did you leave it on the _Raventalon_?" Star suggested. "It could still be at the Airbase?"

"Maybe...I don't think so."

"When's the last time you remember having it?"

Marco thoughtfully scratched his chin. "The last time I remember having it...was..." Star watched his expression abruptly become sullen. "Oh, no."

"What?"

"The last time I remember having it...was on Moraband...when I gave it to Janna."

* * *

_"Hey! You there! Let me see your identification!"_

The young Twi'lek woman shrank back as the stormtrooper prodded her shoulder with the barrel of his blaster. She didn't speak Basic and had no idea what the stormtrooper was demanding of her.

_"I said identification! Now!" _

A series of bloops and whistles caught the stormtrooper's attention. Looking up, the trooper caught sight of a light-blue-and-pink astromech droid with a spike atop its dome standing in the open doorway to the lead car.

_"Hey. TK-210." _

The other stormtrooper took a pause from tormenting an elderly Dug on the opposite side of the maglev car and looked at his partner, who was pointing at an astromech droid.

_"Didn't Officer Rosado say the fugitives had a blue-and-pink astro-droid like that?"_

The other trooper took a step closer for a better look. The droid's photoreceptor stared back at him. _"That's not blue-and-pink. It's cyan-and-fuchsia."_

The first stormtrooper gave his helmeted head a shake in surprise. _"What?"_

_"That isn't blue. And it isn't pink."_

_"Are you being serious right now?"_

_"I'm just saying, true blue, as a shade, is much darker than that. And if anything, that's closer to rose than pink."_

The droid's head swiveled back and forth with each turn of the conversation, finding it very amusing. _  
_

_"...Are we really going to have an argument about what color the droid is? How many pink-and-blue droids-"_

_"It's not pink-and-blue. It's cyan and fuchsia."_

The first trooper groaned in annoyance. "_How many astromech droids do you think there could possibly be around here that could be described as being a *shade* of blue and a *shade* of pink?"_

_"I don't know, but Rosado said it was blue-and-pink and that is not blue-and-pink!"_

Standing with their backs to the bulkhead on the opposite side of the door to the lead maglev car, Tom and Janna glanced at each other. A silent, confused expression on Tom's face asked Janna if what they were observing was really happening. Her slow nod conveyed that, no, it was not their imagination. Two stormtroopers really were arguing about what colors PY-HD was.

_"Alright, fine, forget the color! He also said the droid had a spike on its dome, and that is the only astro-droid I've ever seen with a spike on its dome!"_

Several low-pitched beeps came from PY-HD as it conveyed "You are the worst troopers I've ever seen" in droid binary.

_"What!" _yelped the second trooper_. "That's it! I don't care if this is the fugitives' droid or not! Com'ere, you rolling scrap pile!"_

PY-HD quickly spun around and raced back through the door and across the vestibule to the lead car. The stormtroopers followed, single file due to the narrow doorway.

As soon as Janna and Tom saw PY-HD zip past them, they reached their arms out across the doorway and took each other by the hand, interlocking their fingers. The first stormtrooper ran into their joined hands helmet-first. They let the trooper's momentum carry him forward a bit, then flung the trooper backwards into the second, their helmets colliding hard and knocking both out cold. The two unconscious troopers lay sprawled out, one atop the other, in the vestibule between the cars.

"Nice job, Lucy," Janna said simply, feeling rather proud of herself. "You, too, Pony."

The droid bleeped a reply of appreciation that was anything but humble.

"So what do we do with them now?" Tom asked.

"Jam them into the refresher, of course." Janna bent down and picked up the nearest trooper by the feet. "Grab an end."

* * *

"Well, I'm sure Janna will be very careful with your lightsaber, Marco," Star said reassuringly.

"I sure hope so..."

Star was still on the opposite side of the bed from Marco, so she hopped atop the covers and walked on her knees across to her best friend. "You know, I think I thought of something better we can do instead of lightsaber training."

"What's that?"

She looped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, leaning close to his ear as she whispered, "Cuddle."

Marco chuckled. "Not that I don't want you to stay here, Star, but aren't you worried about it...not being proper, or whatever?"

She kissed his cheek and released him, kicking off her boots and siding beneath the bedsheets. "Don't care. Cuddle now."

Marco sighed. He couldn't deny, he had missed cuddling with his best friend since they had arrived on Mewni. Without another word, he removed his boots and hoodie and crawled into bed beside Star. He didn't think he would ever be able to quiet his mind enough to sleep, but, much to his surprise, he found Star's presence to be very calming just as he had felt when he was having nightmares aboard the_Raventalon_.

It still took quite a while, but holding his best friend tightly in his arms and listening to her gently breathe as she snoozed, Marco eventually drifted off to sleep.

**Next: ****Nocturnal Track-down**


	30. Nocturnal Track-down

**No time like quarantine time for a long chapter. **

"So I figured, if those two were getting on the subway in Coronet City, either they had business there, or that's where they left their ship."

As the landspeeder sailed through the clear Corellian night, Security Officer Rosado spelled out his plan to the inquisitor.

"We already checked all of the spaceports and repair shops in Coronet," the inquisitor reminded him sternly. "And we didn't find that ship or any record of a Lucy Lucille Lucitor."

"True. But if their Jedi friends aren't with them, I figure they must have made another stop before coming here. If that YV-560 they fled Coruscant in was badly damaged, they could have scuttled it."

The inquisitor nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. We could be looking for the wrong ship entirely. But if they did switch ships, how are we supposed to know what we're looking for?"

"Good point. But regardless, they had a reason to be here on Corellia."

The inquisitor looked over the landspeeder's windscreen at the lights of the city approaching in the distance. _What __p__ossible purpose could they have had here?_

"If we can figure out what they were doing here, it may lead us back to them, or maybe even...give us some clue as to where their Jedi friends are located." Rosado spoke those words hesitantly. He felt guilty just saying that. But, it was still his job, and at the moment, anything he might say to keep the inquisitor from killing him was a necessary evil.

"And how exactly do you plan on accomplishing this?"

That was a question Rosado had been dreading. He didn't quite have a solid plan in place just yet. He did, however, have an idea of where to start.

"First we're going back to the Juni Street maglev station."

"What for?"

Rosado looked further down the street ahead of the landspeeder into the growing lights of Coronet City. He nodded semi-confidently. "You'll see."

* * *

With a great a heave, Tom managed to compress the pair of unconscious stormtroopers into the refresher enough for the door to close when he pressed the button. "Whew!" he gasped, sliding against the door down to a sitting position on the maglev's dirty floor. Though the train had very few passengers at this time of night, there was still the human woman and her small child, the Twi'lek, and the elderly man that the same pair of stormtroopers had been harassing riding in this car. Each had watched him silently as he stuffed the Imperial soldiers into the tiny refresher, but none had offered to help. The Twi'lek, however, gave him a nod of approval once he had finished his daunting task.

Janna and PY-HD entered through the opposite end of the car.

"Oh, there you guys are," Tom said, breathing heavily but with a nervous chuckle. "Don't worry, I took care of the stormtroopers...all by myself."

"Nice going, Lucy. Pony and I checked the rest of the train. They were the only two aboard."

"Speaking of which," Tom said, turning to the astromech, "Pony, can you deactivate this door in case our, uh, *friends* happen to regain consciousness?"

The droid beeped a condescending affirmative and rolled back up to the lead car, Janna and Tom following close behind. Once there, PY-HD plugged into the computer terminal and accessed the maglev's systems, disabling the door to the refresher in car 2.

"So what's the plan now?" Tom asked as the pair of smugglers sank tiredly into some nearby seats. Aside from them, the front car was now completely empty.

Janna rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Well...the station after next has a branch where we can switch trains. The branch bypasses a big section of the CMTS loop and goes right up to Kor Vella. That's only two stations away from where we docked in Clefttorch."

"That's great," Tom said with a yawn. "Anything to cut down on the time it takes us to get back to the ship."

The yawn was contagious. Janna yawned as well before continuing. "Yup. Hopefully we can make it all the way back without being intercepted. If we're really lucky, we'll make it by sunrise." She looked out the window, not that there was much to see out there besides the subway tunnel wall. "Oh, and we're just jumping trains. Obviously not gonna buy a ticket."

"Right. Why risk being seen or give the Empire a way to track us?" Tom closed his eyes and leaned back deep in the seat. "Man, it feels like it's been forever since I've slept."

Janna could not help but yawn again. "I know. I think we've got time for a little loth-cat nap."

* * *

The servos and solenoids inside the ticket clerk droid buzzed and clicked as it dutifully went about it's work. For nearly a century it had stood behind that counter, receiving only the most basic of maintenance since it was technically owned by the Corellian government, and they weren't about to shell out taxpayer money to follow the manufacturer's recommended service intervals to the letter; not when they had far more expensive and unnecessary things to waste money on.

The droid didn't really care. It had had the self-preservation protocols wiped from its memory banks long, long ago. It just stood behind the window, listening to travelers' intended destinations, taking their credits, and printing their tickets. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the same old thing.

Until today.

"Yes, sir, one ticket for Zucktha Yard. That will be sixteen credits, sir," the droid droned.

Even at this late hour, there was still a slow but steady stream of travelers lined up before the ticket window in the darkness. The ship yards' never ending production line was about to cycle shifts, and laborers from all over the planet were commuting into work.

The man removed the credits from his pocket and set them on the counter, sliding them beneath the transparisteel window with his palm.

"Thank you, sir." The old protocol droid carefully stacked the credit chips and dropped them into the sorter. It entered the sale information into the computer through the scop-link in its right index finger. "Please stand by while your ticket is printed." The ticket machine spat out a single ticket. The droid plucked it from the slot and held it out to the customer. "Here you are, sir. Have a pleasant ride."

The man reached up to accept the ticket, but just as his fingers were about to close upon the paper, he was roughly shoved aside and knocked to the ground by a figure clad entirely in black and who's features were hidden beneath a helmet. "You. Droid. We need to see your security recordings. Now."

The droid was not phased. "You have interrupted the cue. Please return to the end of the cue at your earliest convenience."

No sooner were the words out of the droid's vocabulator, the crimson blade of a lightsaber suddenly shattered the ticket window, the tip barely grazing the metal between the droid's photoreceptors. The people in line gasped and shrank back, the man who had been knocked to the ground rushing to his feet and breaking for the street. "Listen here, droid! I am an agent of Emperor Palpatine himself! I don't have time to wait in your kriffing line!"

The whirring of a few servos reached the inquisitor's ears, the protocol droid's head tilting slightly as if analyzing the situation. "You have interrupted the cue. Please return-"

The inquisitor swung the lightsaber back, prepared to slash the droid's head off in anger.

"Inquisitor! Stop!" The yell came from Security Officer Rosado, rushing to catch up.

The inquisitor waved its blade at Rosado. "Every second we stand here wasting time, those fugitives are getting further and further away! We don't have time to be polite!"

"But Inquisitor, stop and think for a second!" Rosado begged as he caught his breath. "The droid clearly does not understand. You're waving your authority around like you expect this old class three to know who you are." He pulled his Imperial credentials from his pocket and showed them to the droid. "Imperial Security Officer Rosado," he said as authoritative a tone as he could muster. "I am on extremely urgent Imperial business of the highest importance."

The droid scanned the credentials. "Yes, sir. How may I be of assistance to you, sir?"

The inquisitor growled and switched off its lightsaber. Rosado couldn't help but smile to himself.

"My associate and I need to see your security recordings as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir, right away, sir." The droid reached beneath the counter and pressed a button. "I have called for a replacement droid to relieve me." It gestured to the left. "This way please. I will meet you in the corridor."

"Thank you."

As the droid passed through an interior door on its way out to meet them, Rosado smiled at the inquisitor as they headed in the same direction. "See?"

The inquisitor did not even look at Rosado. It just pushed in front of him. The Security Officer scrunched up his lips in disdain and followed.

* * *

_"Now arriving: Core-ell Junction."_

PY-HD swiveled it's head to look at its organic companions. Their heads leaned against each other as they soundly slept on the otherwise empty bench seat in the maglev car. The automated station alert from the public address system did not even remotely rouse either of them. It was time for them to disembark and change trains. Tom and Janna needed to wake up. So, the droid jabbed Tom in his side with its sharpened horn.

"YOW!" Tom leapt from his sitting position, his abrupt motion knocking over Janna onto the seat, waking her as well. "Pony Head!" Tom growled as he rubbed his sore side. "What was that for?"

The droid bleeped indignantly that if they wanted to sleep through their station stop, that was just fine, too.

"Oh, we're here?" Janna groaned sleepily as she picked herself up off the seat. "How long was I out for?"

"No idea, I was asleep, too."

"And Pony jabbed you with her horn to wake you up?" Janna chuckled. "Nice. Good job, Pony."

The astromech bleeped happily and Tom scowled with annoyance.

Once again, they carefully watched the platform as the maglev glided into the underground station and, thankfully, spotted no security forces waiting to intercept them. That didn't mean no one was there, though, as the pair of still-unconscious stormtroopers had managed to board the train earlier without ever being spotted. The two smugglers and their astromech hopped off when the automatic doors slid open and headed for a set of stairs in the middle of the platform. The stairs climbed to a walkway that passed over the maglev track they had just been traveling on and it's parallel opposing track to an island platform on the other side. This platform serviced both the opposing track and a third track on the far side, which terminated in a safety buffer and a wall. This was the subdivision line that bypassed roughly half of the main CMTS circuit, heading directly to the city of Kor Vella.

Climbing the stairs was very slow going for PY-HD, having to very awkwardly hop up one step at a time with its single front retractable leg. Nervous at lingering in the open for too long, Tom and Janna picked up their droid and carried it all the way across the walkway and down to the other platform as the train they had just disembarked glided silently beneath them and out of the station.

"Made it," Tom gasped as they set down PY-HD on its feet at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at the empty Maglev track. "How long until the train gets here? I don't like standing out here in the open with no cover."

Janna shrugged. "I don't know the train schedule. It gets here when it gets here."

"Oh, that's just great."

An empty bench provided a spot where they could sit and await the arrival of the train. All three kept their heads on a constant swivel (one more literally than the other two) keeping careful watch for any sign of potential threats. There was nothing else they could do.

They could only wait.

* * *

The old protocol droid led the inquisitor and Security Officer Rosado to the Juni Street Station video surveillance room. The space was small, only barely large enough to accommodate the three of them. The rear wall contained a desk control panel below a dozen monitors, each showing a live feed from a different security camera located around the train station. "Here you will find all security recordings from the station," the droid droned. "If you inform me of the subject of your search, I can assist you in locating it."

"That would be very helpful," Rosado said.

The inquisitor leaned a shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, and scowled beneath its mask. It watched as the droid took a seat at the control panel and plugged its scoplink into a port in the center, bypassing the physical controls. "What location would you like to observe, sir?"

"The ticket window where you were stationed."

The droid commanded the electronics and the monitors ceased to show their individual views. They instead cooperated to show the front counter view blown up as large as possible.

"What time would you like to observe?"

"About an hour or so before sundown."

The droid rewound the recording while Rosado scanned the people milling about in reverse and regressing in the ticket line with his eyes, searching for the fugitives.

After three minutes of rewinding, he spotted the inquisitor sprinting backwards from off-screen. "Slow it down," he said. "Right about here."

The droid complied with the request and the recording's rewind speed slowed. The inquisitor stepped forward for a closer look. It watched itself return to the ticket line, slowly stepping backwards as the passengers in front of it returned. There was that strange blue-and-pink astromech droid with the spike on its dome, the fire-haired demonicite, and the human girl.

"There they are!" the inquisitor growled loudly.

Rosado nodded. "Yup. Droid, based on the time stamp on the recording when they made their transaction, can you look up their tickets and tell us their destination?"

"Of course, sir. One moment, please."

"Identifications, too, droid," commanded the inquisitor menacingly.

"I will obtain that information, as well." After about ten seconds of silence, the droid relayed what it had found. "Only the female's identification was scanned as she was the one who conducted the transaction for the tickets."

"Who is she?" the inquisitor demanded.

"Her identification lists her as Banana Lucitor."

Rosado gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Wow. What a name."

The inquisitor frowned beneath its helmet. "Hang on. Lucitor? Wasn't the ship that helped Butterfly and Diaz escape Coruscant registered to someone named Lucitor?"

"I think you might be right." Rosado pulled his datapad from his shoulder bag and tapped the screen a few times. "Yeah, here it is. 'Lucy Lucille Lucitor.'"

"It's definitely them, alright. What was their destination?"

"The electronic transaction receipt shows the tickets purchased were for Clofttorch." The droid paused. "The system shows that two more tickets were purchased by the same customer early last cycle at Clefttorch Terminal."

Rosado thoughtfully stroked his short beard as he contemplated this information. "If they came here from Clefttorch, and now they bought tickets to head back there...There's a public docking bay in Clefttorch. That must be where their ship is!"

"Right...back...where we started." The Inquisitor silently stared straight at the wall for a few seconds. Rosado wondered what it was thinking.

Then the protocol droid floated up out of its chair and launched backwards out the door, smashing against the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. Rosado was shocked.

"Inquisitor!"

For the second time that night, a red-bladed lightsaber was suddenly aimed between his eyes. "Why didn't you catch that name when we checked that docking bay the first time?" the inquisitor snarled.

It was difficult to remain calm. "I-I-I swear, Inquisitor! 'Lucy Lucille Lucitor' was not anywhere on the roster when we checked the Clefttorch docking bay! I know I would have noticed it! They must have arrived after we left!"

The inquisitor growled and switched off its lightsaber again. "We're wasting time. Call the ship to come pick us up. If they're still traveling by ground we should be able to beat them back to Clefttorch and head them off."

The inquisitor stormed out the door, not even sparing a glance at the broken body of the protocol lying in the hallway as it stalked past.

Rosado took a deep breath, sighing in relief that he had talked his way out of being murdered by his partner yet again, before pulling out his commlink and hailing his troops waiting on the ship in orbit.

* * *

After what seemed like an anxious eternity of waiting, the maglev finally arrived, slowing to a stop just a meter or two before the safety bumper against the wall at the track's end. Janna, Tom, and PY-HD wasted no time in climbing aboard with the few other beings taking the subway in the middle of the night. Even once aboard the train, they refused to relax until it reversed direction and pulled out of the station, heading back along its route to Kor Vella.

"Whew!" Janna gasped. "I was so nervous, I felt like I had to remind myself to breathe that whole time we were waiting."

"Me too." Tom wiped a nervous bead of sweat from his brow. "If we ever actually get back to Mewni, I'm gonna sleep for a week."

"Same. I hope King and Queen Butterfly will put up with us for that long."

Tom leaned back in the seat and looked out the window across from him on the opposite side of the maglev car. There wasn't much to see besides the tunnel wall. "I think they would. They seemed like very nice people. Especially as far as Royalty goes."

Janna smirked at him mischievously. "Well, you would know-"

"Shut it!" Tom warned through clenched teeth.

Janna chuckled. "Sorry, Lucy. I forgot how much you despise that subject."

"Just drop it."

Janna leaned back and crossed her arms, looking out the same window opposite them as her partner. "Fine."

On through the night, the maglev raced. Due to the long distances between station stops and nearly straight track on this subdivision route, the train could travel at a much greater rate of speed than the main line CMTS trains. Even so, to the fugitives on board, the trip seemed to take an excruciatingly long time.

When at last the maglev slowed on its approach to Kor Vella Station, Janna and Tom breathed a sigh of immense relief, knowing that their journey was nearly over. They would change trains one final time, with only a short ride remaining to return them to Clefttorch.

"I almost can't believe we made it all this way without running into any more Imperials trying to find us," Tom mused as they crossed the walkway from one platform to the other. "I thought for sure they'd have every trooper in the system scouring the planet for us."

"I was thinking that, too..." Janna thoughtfully put a finger to her chin. "This almost seems...too easy..." She slowly stopped walking. Tom and PY-HD looked at her, wondering what was on her mind.

"Janna?" Tom asked. "What are you thinking?"

Captain Ordonia didn't answer. She stared at the maglev train they had just disembarked as it glided almost silently back out of the station. Abruptly, she spun on her heel and faced her companions again. "Is there any possible way they could have figured out where we left the ship?"

"What, you think they're waiting for us?" Tom asked.

Janna shrugged. "Why else would they not bother to send more stormtroopers after us? There's enough security protecting the ship yards on this backwater trashdump to capture Naboo, they could have easily had a few dozen stormtroopers waiting at every station to completely overwhelm us."

"Unless they just think we'd be too stupid to keep riding the maglev and disappeared into one of the cities along the way."

Janna waved her hand in a circular motion, mulling over Tom's suggestion. "Yeah, I guess that could be, too."

Tom considered their adventures on Corellia for a moment, wondering how the Imperials might have possibly figured out where their ship was. A realization struck, and his three eyes went wide. "Your identification. You had to scan it when you bought the subway tickets. Your ID is in the system, so if that...thing...went back to the station, it could have looked you up in the system to see who you are."

"Nah. My ID has a fake name."

"Oh. Right. Well, they still could still have linked it to the name on the landing permit at the spaceport."

Janna shook her head. "Nope. I never use the exact same fake name twice."

"Really? Why didn't I know that?"

Janna shrugged. "You obviously need to pay better attention to my buisness practices. Either way, I still don't like this. That _thing_ tried to kill us, there's no way it isn't trying to track us down. Even if we can't figure out how it might be tracking us, that doesn't mean it doesn't know where we're heading."

Tom leaned against the walkway railing. "You're probably right. This was way too easy."

PY-HD whistle-beeped a very short comment consisting of a mere three words.

"Yup. Almost definitely." Janna pulled off her hat with one hand and scratched her head with the other. "The question is, where is the trap? Can we make it back to the ship without somehow springing it?"

Tom shook his head in frustration. "I guess we have no real way of knowing."

Another series of bleeps came from PY-HD. It's organic companions gave it a questioning look.

"Pony Head? You have an idea?" Tom asked.

The droid whistled an affirmative.

Janna knelt down in front of it. "Let's hear it."

* * *

Sixteen stormtroopers comprised the entirety of Security Officer Rosado's task force. They were under his direct command, answering specifically to him and not acting as a part of any other company. Up until now, they had never been on a real assignment. That quickly changed when they were hailed from orbit to pick up Rosado and the inquisitor in Coronet City and fly them back to Clefttorch.

Rosado had never actually had a reason to command his troops in any kind of real-life battle scenario before. During the cross-planetary flight, he was nervously trying to remember his Imperial training and how properly to command his force.

Fortunately for him, when they reached the spaceport, he didn't even need to.

"All troops, fan out!" the inquisitor barked. "Alpha squadron cover the north end, Beta squadron covers south end! Keep yourselves out of sight until I give the signal! And all troopers set to stun! I want them alive!"

Rosado watched from the bottom of the ship's boarding ramp as the stormtroopers split into two groups and headed toward opposite ends of the spaceport. He couldn't help but feel bad about what they were doing. They were just kids, after all, no different than the pair of Jedi their capture would hopefully lead to. He felt guilty.

Even if the girl had stabbed him in the leg.

Walking up beside the inquisitor with a slight limp from said injury, he cleared his throat. "Um, so...do you want me to have a look at the landing permits again? See if I can figure out which ship is theirs?"

The inquisitor didn't even look at him as it dismissed the question with a mocking wave. "What for? The troopers are covering all entrances. The instant they show up, the troopers will stun them! There will be no escape this time."

Rosado rubbed the back of his head. "Sure. Right. I guess...I'll just sit here and wait then."

"Yeah, you do that."

* * *

"This is awfully risky," Tom said, crossing his arms. "Sending an un-encrypted message like this. Someone could pick it up."

"I don't think we really have time to worry about that that," Janna replied as she fiddled with some of PY-HD's settings. "If they are waiting for us and we take too long to show up, then they might start actually _looking _for us."

"I guess so. But I still don't like it."

"Oh, hush. We don't have time for full encryption, but I'm changing some settings to Pony's broadcast signal so the Empire at least shouldn't notice. Hopefully."

PY-HD concurred with a condescending bleep.

They had left the subway station and taken refuge in a nearby alleyway where they could not be seen from the street. When Janna had finished making her changes, all that was left to do was broadcast the transmission and hope for the best.

"Okay, Pony," Janna said as she got back to her feet. "Let's hope that worked. Send the transmission."

PY-HD shuttered slightly as it replied and then began sending a holotransmission request signal to the frequency Janna had provided.

"It is the middle of the night, you know," Tom reminded her. "He may not answer."

"Shut up."

For two agonizingly long minutes, there was no response. Tom and Janna were beginning to worry that he wouldn't answer. Then, just when they were prepared to give up and consider other options, PY-HD twittered that it was receiving an incoming transmission.

Janna pumped her fist victoriously. "Yes! Put it through, Pony!"

The droid chittered and the holoprojector beside its photoreceptor illuminated, projecting a miniature three-dimensional graphic of Han.

"Han!" they chorused with thankful excitement.

_"Hey, guys."_ The kid rubbed his eyes sleepily as he yawned. _"Did you finally make it back to your ship?"_

"Not quite," Janna explained. "We think we're walking into a trap at the spaceport. We were wondering...is there any chance that you could, like, do a flyover? See what might be waiting for us where we parked?"

_"I'd be happy to, Janna, but I don't have a ship."_

Janna snapped her fingers in annoyance. "Rats. Well...couldn't you borrow a ship from anyone?"

_"I honestly don't know anyone who would be willing to let me just borrow their ship."_

"Well, you still got that big case full of credits, don't you?"

_"Yeah, I still have it."_

"Can you bribe someone to let you borrow a ship?"

_"Hmm..."_ Hologram Han thoughtfully touched his chin. _"You know...I think I may know just who to ask..."_

* * *

Rosado had been watching the inquisitor stand motionless for what felt like ages. Sitting on a crate near the _Pelta_-class frigate _Mentis Mal _assigned to his task force, a leftover from the Clone War, he checked his chronometer. "Sun will be up in about an hour," he said to himself with a yawn. "Can't believe I've been up all night."

The Clefttorch spaceport was pretty quiet for the most part. There was a small cargo ship on the landing pad opposite the _Mentis Mal_, the trio of Gotals loading it paying no attention to the stormtroopers laying in wait. There was a beat-up light freighter landing three pads away, and a CSS-5 light shuttle noisily buzzed overhead at a very sluggish pace.

"Sure hope they show up soon so I can take a nap," Rosado muttered to himself.

* * *

Han looked out the large viewport of Reflectacorp's CSS-5 light shuttle. In the lights of the spaceport below, he could see the obviously-Imperial ship, the inquisitor still standing at the top of the boarding ramp. He pressed his macrobinoculars to his eyes, switching them to heat vision. Outlines of reds and yellows amongst the sea of green were obviously stormtroopers, hiding in the shadows and behind crates and boxes, awaiting the arrival of their target.

"Yup. It's a trap, alright. Seahorse, take us up to an altitude where we'll be out of sight while I contact Janna again."

"Here at Reflectacorp, customer service is our number one priority," the protocol droid at the controls cheerfully replied. It hauled back on the control yoke and flew the ship up into the clouds while Han reopened the communication line from the shuttle's transmitter. Six-inch-tall holographic images of Tom and Janna appeared on the holoprojector in the center of the control panel.

_"What's the word, Han?"_ Janna asked.

"You were right. They're waiting for you at the spaceport. I counted sixteen stormtroopers, plus their commander. You never would have made it to your ship."

_"Dang it."_

Tom asked, _"How in the galaxy did they figure out that's where our ship was?"_

_"I have no idea, and I don't really care at the moment,"_ Janna said._ "The question is how are we supposed to get our ship back and pick up our parts?"_

Han nodded sarcastically. "That is a problem, isn't it?" He looked out the viewscreen at the dark night sky, puzzling over the dilemma in his head as he scanned the stars. "Say, Janna...which ship is yours?"

"_The red _Sheathipede_-class Separatist shuttle from the Clone War. Why?"_

"I may have an idea. I'll call you back."

Han killed the transmission and the holoprojector blinked out. "Can you do another fly-by, Seahorse? I want to check something out."

"Certainly! At Reflectacorp, customer serv-"

"Please stop talking," Han begged rubbing his temples. "I cannot listen to you say that again."

"Your credits are paying for this surveillance," C-HRS3 said, "and at Reflectacorp, the customer is always right. I will engage quiet mode and perform another fly-by of the spaceport."

"Thank you, so very much," Han quipped as the droid pushed the yoke forward and the long cylindrical ship dropped through the clouds once more. The spaceport lay ahead, a very brightly lit pool in a sea of mostly-dark buildings.

As they did a second slow pass over the spaceport, Han caught sight of the tall dorsal structure of a _Sheathipede-_class shuttle, the fresh red paint glistening in the bright lights. It was parked on a landing pad right in the center of the spaceport. His macrobinoculars showed no Imperials hiding anywhere close by.

_Ah...so the Imps know Janna and Tom landed there, but they don't know which ship is theirs..._

"Seahorse, I need you to let me out. Set this thing down somewhere no one will see."

The purple protocol droid did not reply. It just kept flying the ship straight ahead.

"Seahorse?"

Nothing.

Han stood up and took a step toward the droid. "Hey! Are you listening to me?"

"I was respecting your request that I remain silent," C-HRS3 answered as cheerfully as ever.

Han rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Did you hear what I said?"

"I did. I am currently searching for a landing pad that suits your needs."

"We don't need a landing pad. Just put me down in the middle of the street or something. Anywhere so long as no one sees us."

"My programming dictates that I cannot land in unauthorized-"

"Oh for the love of- Fine! Can you hover close enough to the ground for me to jump out?"

Han could head the droid's processor whirring, analyzing the request. "That is something I am capable of acquiescing."

"Thank you." Han quickly hopped back into the copilot's seat and rang up Janna and Tom one last time. They appeared on the holoprojector yet again. "Guys, I've got a plan. You're still in Kor Vella?"

_"Yeah,"_ Janna answered, _"near the subway station."_

"Good. Wait for me by the station, somewhere I'll be able to easily see you from the air. I'll be there shortly to pick you up."

_"What are you-?"_

But Han cut the communication line before Tom could finish his question. At C-HRS3's command, the CSS-5 was descending toward the street about a klick from the spaceport.

"After I jump out, head back to Coronet and bring Captain Ordonia's parts to the Reflectacorp docking bay. We'll be there soon."

"I will do as you have instructed!" C-HRS3 replied cheerfully. "At Reflectacorp-"

Han quickly sprinted from the cockpit before he would be forced to listen to more of the droid's ramblings. He lowered the boarding ramp, and C-HRS3 lowered the ship until the end of the ramp was about a meter above the duracrete street. Then he hopped off, turning and waving toward the cockpit to let the droid know he was away. Through the cockpit viewscreen, C-HRS3 waved back and commanded the shuttle back into the night sky. Han watched as it turned toward Coronet City and flew off into the darkness.

"Alright," he said confidently to himself. "Time to see just how convincing an actor I am."

* * *

Another yawn escaped Rosado's lungs. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

_I gotta stay awake...There's gotta be something I can do to keep myself alert. _

His eyes drifted down to the carry bag he still wore over his shoulder. He reached inside and extracted his datapad.

_I'll try to figure out which ship belongs to those kids._

He called the saved data from their earlier visit to the spaceport on screen.

_...even if the inquisitor told me not to bother. _

* * *

Stormtrooper SF-435 scanned the area beyond the spaceport's north entrance through the sight of his blaster. A slim few beings roamed the street outside, and none seemed to be even remotely interested in approaching the spaceport.

_"This is such a waste of time,"_ said SF-437, crouching beside him. _"Sitting here waiting for a couple of stupid kids. They probably won't even show up."_

_"Well, we aren't the ones in charge," _435 reminded his compatriot. _"If the inquisitor believes those kids are headed back here, there must be a good reason or we would still be waiting on the ship up in orbit." _The trooper lowered his blaster and watched a pretty Twi'lek woman casually stroll past their hiding spot. _"And frankly, I prefer this to sitting cooped up on the ship. The view down here is better."_

437 shook his head. _"Can't really say I agree with you_."

_"Don't tell me you don't find tailheads attractive."_

_"No, I can't see anything out of this stupid new helmet. And the new protocols won't let us take them off outside the barracks. Our old armor was so much better."_

_"Ah, you'll get used to it. I can see...you know...okay." _435 lifted his blaster and peered through the sight once more. A lone male teenager was walking toward the spaceport's main entrance from across the street. _"Hey! 437! You see that kid?"_

The other trooper looked toward where 435 was motioning with his blaster. _"That's not one of them."_

_"How do you know? How many teenagers do think could be walking around at this hour?"_

_"Because the inquisitor said the girl was human, and the guy was a Demonicite."_

_"Oh. Yeah, you're right."_

437 stood up. _"Protocol does state that anyone entering an Imperial Secured Area must present identification. Come on."_

435 quickly grabbed his commlink. _"Alpha Squadron, this is SF-Four-Three-Five. Four-Three-Seven and I are moving in to intercept a civilian in accordance with protocol seven-two-point-one. Stand by."_

The teenage boy slowed when he saw the pair of stormtroopers moving to block his path into the spaceport.

_"Halt," _commanded 437. _"This is a secure area. State your business."_

"I'm just meeting my uncle," said the kid, his voice unnerved, confused, and slightly frightened. "He's fixing the trans-induction coil on our ship in there and I went to get him more solder." The kid opened his hand, revealing a spool of soft metal wire.

The stormtroopers glanced at each other.

_"I'll need to see your identification," _435 told him.

The kid turned slightly pale. "I...I don't have it. My uncle is holding onto it because I...I always lose it."

_"I'm afraid I cannot let you pass without your identification."_

"But my uncle has it. In there."

_"Sorry, kid. No exceptions. I'm gonna have to ask you to move along."_ 437 motioned with his blaster for the kid to leave.

The teenager, however, was not deterred. "Wait, hold on. My uncle is literally right over there on our ship." He pointed toward one of the landing pads. "Let me just run over there and grab my identification from my uncle and I'll come right back. I won't be gone a minute."

The troopers looked at each other again.

"Please, sir?" the boy begged. "My uncle really needs this solder."

Another silent exchange. 437 looked at the teenager. _"What's your name, kid?"_

"Needles, sir," Han lied, using the name of his street racing pal.

_"Needles, I will let you pass to get your identification, but I want you to come right back here immediately, understand?"_

Han flashed a thankful and trustworthy smile. "Oh, thank you, so much, sir! I promise, I will come right back!" He jogged past the two stormtroopers, thinking _Ha ha, suckerrrrrrrs. _

_"What did you do that for?" _435 asked as they watched Han run past several ships parked on their respective landing pads.

_"Because we're standing out here in the open instead of remaining out of sight to ambush the targets. The longer we spend arguing with that kid, the more likely the targets will show up and see us and the whole operation will be blown."_

_"You should have just sent him away."_

They watched as Han stopped before a landing pad in the middle of the spaceport on the right side and walked toward a shiny red ship with a massive dorsal stabilizer.

_"I know. But he's just a kid. What harm is it really going to cause? He's going to come back with his ID, so we're still following protocol. From a certain point of view."_

_"I guess so. But if the inquisitor asks, I'm saying it was your idea."_

* * *

Han hurried up the _Sheathipede-_class shuttle's boarding ramp and closed it behind him. He wasted no time, darting into the cockpit and hopping into the pilot's seat. The Hoar Chall Engineering control layout was a bit foreign to him, but it still didn't take him long fire up the converters.

The engines roared to life. Han gripped the control yoke. "And away we go!"

* * *

Rosado blinked, both trying to clear his tired eyes and reacting in surprise to what he was seeing. The Aurebesh text on his datapad made no sense, and yet, somehow, was perfectly logical.

**Clefttorch Spaceport**

**Landing Pad 19**

**Landing Permit Number: 721310**

**Permit Issued to: Wrathmelior L. Banana**

_Banana? There's no way that's a coincidence... Wait, Docking bay 19? That's right-!_

Rosado's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of twin sublight engines roaring to life just to his left. He jumped to his feet.

"Uh...Inquisitor?!" he called.

"What?" the black-clad Jedi hunter yelled back in annoyance from where it stood atop the _Mentis Mal_'s boarding ramp.

"Remember how you said it didn't matter which ship belonged to those kids?"

"Yeah?"

Rosado pointed to a red _Sheathipede-_class ship rising up off the landing pad just beside them. "Well...it's that one..."

The Inquisitor could only watch as the ship belonging to its quarry rose into the air and flew away. "Idiots!" it yelled, and sprinted into the frigate.

Rosado quickly hurried up the ramp after it. "Oh, boy."

* * *

Programming in a comm frequency while flying was not the easiest of tasks, but Han was no ordinary pilot. It took only a few minutes for him to contact Janna and Tom through PY-HD's transmitter. The little holoprojector on the control panel lit up with their miniature images.

"Hey! You guys still by the subway station in Kor Vella?"

_"Yeah, we're here,"_ Janna replied, _"Where are-?"_

"Coming in hot!" Han said, cutting her off. "You'd better be ready to jump in when I get there, I'm sure they're tailing me!"

"Wait, wha-?!"

Han killed the transmission. The scanner did not pick up any ship tailing him, but he knew the Imperials would not be far off. He took a deep breath, but smiled confidently nonetheless. "This is gonna be some rescue."

* * *

Janna hurried toward the subway station with Tom and PY-HD hot on her heels.

"What the heck is Han doing?" Tom wondered aloud as they ran. "What did he do? Steal our ship out from right under the Empire's nose?"

"No idea! We'll ask him when he gets here!"

In a few minutes they had made it back to the front of the subway station, joining the slowly increasing gathering of early morning commuters. No more than thirty seconds later, their red _Sheathipede-_class shuttle came soaring over the tops of the buildings at high velocity.

"Guess that answers that question," Janna muttered. "Taxi!" she called sarcastically.

The ship shot toward the ground, causing the commuters heading for the subway station ticket window to scatter, most of them crying out in terror as they ran. Janna, Tom and PY-HD, however, held their ground, and sure enough, just as the ship reached them, it abruptly slowed and spun one-hundred-eighty degrees, the stern boarding hatch now facing them as it hovered half a meter off the ground. A second later, the hatch doors opened and the boarding ramp extended, the ship hovering so low that the tip of the ramp actually contacted the street.

"Ride's here," Janna quipped, wasting no time in leading the charge up the ramp.

* * *

Han shoved the throttle forward before his passengers had a chance to grab onto anything, the shuttle jumping forward so quickly that Tom and Janna nearly fell out of the still-open rear hatch. Had PY-HD not had its magnetic feet activated and been behind its organic companions to catch them when they stumbled, the smugglers almost certainly would have tumbled out.

"Han, you idiot! Close the back!" Janna yelled.

"Whoops!" Han activated the ramp control and retracted it, the hatch automatically closing with it.

Janna stood and offered Tom her hand. He took it and she helped him back to his feet. "Thanks, Janna. And we both owe you for the save there, Pony Head," he said to the droid.

"Yeah," Janna agreed. "It's a really good thing we brought you along on this one. We may need to have you with us more often."

The astromech bleeped faux-modestly.

They made their way up to the cockpit. Han flashed them a dashing grin over his shoulder. "Hey guys. You had quite an adventure, huh?"

"You could say that," Janna said sarcastically. "How in the world did you manage to get this bucket away from the Imperials?"

Han smirked. "Well, it was quite a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself..."

As Han regaled his tale, he pointed the ship toward Coronet City. On the horizon, the sun was rising over one of Corellian Engineering Corporation's ship yards. And somewhere, just out of sight, an old _Pelta-_class frigate was being piloted into the air, a very agitated Inquisitor at the controls.

**Quick shoutout to Lord of the Storm, being the only one who actually replied to my inquiry if anyone had been following along since the very beginning of this fanfic. (Looks like you've been following along for about two months. Thanks for reading!)**

**Hope everyone stays safe and healthy during this pandemic. **

**Next: Tom and Janna Return to Mewni**


	31. Tom and Janna Return to Mewni

**I know it probably doesn't make a ton of sense for Corellia and Mewni to be on the exact same day/night cycle, but for the sake of storytelling simplicity...it's just easier to keep track of everything and I don't really care that much. **

The slight shifting of something against Marco's chest woke the young Padawan from his slumber. He blinked his tired eyes, the beckoning of sleep still tugging at his heavy eyelids. The window on the opposite side of the room showed him that the early morning Mewni sun was just barely poking above the horizon.

Way too early to get up.

Marco felt the sensation of movement against the front of his body a second time and was reminded that Star was still with him. She had slid down further beneath the blankets, the covers completely covering her head, the top of her considerable mane of blonde hair tickling his neck. Marco's arms were loosely draped around her midsection. He smiled, happy just to have his best friend there with him, and held her tighter. Star sighed contentedly in her sleep, and he gently nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head.

_Man...I'm so lucky to have Star in my life. I'd be so lost without her right now,_ he thought to himself. _Heh. No way I'd still be alive, either. I never would have made it off Coruscant._

_I wonder what would have happened if all this stuff with Palpatine coming in and taking over hadn't happened. We were gonna run away. Would I have ever told Star how I feel if I hadn't-?_

A chill shot down Marco's spine as he remembered something he had not thought about in quite some time. He'd told Star he loved her because he nearly died. He nearly died because he'd been scared out of his wits by the ghost of Darth Bane. Darth Bane had told him that he was strong with the Dark Side of the Force...

_Is that why I was able to make that sword move so fast last night? Because I unknowingly tapped into the Dark Side?_

_Was Darth Bane actually right about me?_

And the more Marco thought about the possible reality of that chilling thought, the more his anxiety grew, and the more his anxiety grew, the tighter he unconsciously squeezed Star.

Eventually she abruptly awoke, gasping for breath as Marco unintentionally squeezed the life out of her. "Mar...co! Can't...breathe!"

He quickly released her, brimming with embarrassment. "Oh, geez! Star, I'm so sorry!"

She rolled over to face him, her mouth curved into a good-natured grin. "Not exactly the sweet and romantic waking-up-together moment I was hoping for," she joked. But her smile faded when she caught the troubled expression on his face. "Marco, chill. It's not a big deal. You didn't hurt me or anything."

"It's not that." He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "I was just...thinking..."

Star propped herself up on her elbow. "You're thinking about what Darth Grain said to you again, aren't you?"

Marco was taken by surprise. He hadn't expected her to know exactly what was on his mind. "Um...Darth Bane."

"Whatever."

"And, yeah, actually. That's exactly what I was thinking about."

She slid herself closer to him. "I told you before, it doesn't matter. Just forget about what Darth Shane said."

"Bane, Star. And I can't. I'm so worried that he was right. He said I already have darkness in me...what if I fall to it? And it causes me to hurt someone I care about? Like Tom, or Janna or..." Marco turned his head and met Star's vibrantly blue eyes. "...Or you."

Star sighed and wrapped her arms around her best friend, looking hard into his eyes. "Marco, if there's one thing I know for absolute certain, it's that you could never bring yourself to hurt me. Janna maybe not as much-"

Marco let out a short laugh.

"-but I don't think you have any reason at all to worry. So just put Darth Plain completely out of your head!"

"You're doing it on purpose now, aren't you?" He smiled. Star always did know how to cheer him up.

Star didn't answer. She just giggled mischievously. "Now how much would you bet that I can make all of your troubles disappear-" She snapped her fingers. "-just like that?"

"Ummmm..."

But before Marco could answer, Star leaned forward over him and pressed her lips against his. She had been correct; all of Marco's worries melted away, but he couldn't tell her that because the entire previous conversation was instantly forgotten. He pulled her on top of him and threw his arms around her as they became lost in the kiss, completely oblivious to the aroma of breakfast rising up through the castle from the kitchen.

When the kiss finally ended, Marco wove his fingers through her long, lustrous hair as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. "I love you so much, Star."

She rubbed the tip of her nose teasingly against his. "I know you do, silly. I love you, too."

The tender moment was interrupted by a faint growling noise. "Was that your stomach?" laughed Marco.

Star giggled again. "What, I'm hungry!"

He gave her one more peck on the lips. "C'mon, let's go get some breakfast."

"Oh, you know I'm all about that!" She rolled off of him and right out from beneath the covers haphazardly onto the floor. "Race you down the stairs!"

Marco laughed as he flung the covers off and quickly pushed himself out of bed to his feet as Star bolted out the door. "Hey, no fair!"

* * *

"I sure hope Seahorse followed my instructions," Han mused aloud as he guided the ship toward the private Reflectacorp landing pad. "If he did, your parts will be here waiting, and you'll be off Corellia in, well...minutes."

Janna shook her head. "That's the best news I've heard all day."

The circular landing pad was in the open center of a warehouse a few buildings southwest from the Reflectacorp "showroom." Han guided the shuttle over the pad, switched to repulsorlift control, and gently lowered the ship down into the open middle of the building. In the copilot's seat, Janna lowered the landing gear, the four narrow legs simultaneously folding out from their respective corners of the ship's hull. As Han gently set the ship down, he and his passengers could see a pair of Reflectacorp assassin droids plus C-HRS3 standing beside four crates. One crate was nearly as tall as the droids and several yards long, two were about half the size of the giant one, and the last was just a cubic meter. C-HRS3 was holding the case containing the credits from King River.

Han stood from the pilot's seat. "I'll leave the engines running. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Good thinking," said Tom. "In fact, while we're loading the parts, why don't you plug in and program the navicomputer, Pony?"

The astromech bleeped in reply and connected to the computer terminal while Han, Janna, and Tom disembarked.

C-HRS3 met them at the bottom of the boarding ramp. "I am pleased to see that you are still breathing," it said cheerfully. It motioned to the pair of assassin droids, already guiding the levitating crates up toward the ramp. "Reflectacorp's top security droids will now load and secure your purchase."

Tom and Janna glanced at each other. "Like I said," Janna muttered. "Ridiculously good service."

"No argument there," Tom agreed.

C-HRS3 held out the slim carrying case. "I subtracted a small, reasonable fee for the use of Reflectacorp's shuttle and complying with the extra instructions provided to me by Master Han. I return to you the remainder of your credits."

Tom took the case, which he noted was not any considerable amount lighter. The protocol droid was true to his word. "Thank you, very much, uh, Seahorse." He turned back to Han. "And thank you, too. You really saved our skins."

"Yeah, Han." Janna held out her hand, and Han clasped it in a firm handshake. "Thanks for hooking us up, and for stealing our ship back."

Han flashed a dashing smile as he released Janna's hand. "Just what I do."

Janna looked over her shoulder. The Reflectacorp assassin droids were noisily clomping down boarding ramp, their task of loading and securing the purchased parts complete. That was C-HRS3's cue. "Your newly acquired components have been loaded and secured to the best of our ability! This completes your transaction! On behalf of the entire staff, I would like to personally thank you for choosing Reflectacorp Starship Legacy Parts Supply! We wish you a safe and profitable day!"

Before any of the organics could even think of anything else to say, the purple protocol droid spun around and hurried toward a door at the edge of the landing pad, the two assassin droids following closely behind. Janna and Tom were left staring wide-eyed, completely taken-aback by the very abrupt departure.

Janna could manage no more than, "Wow."

"I'm not sure why," Tom mused, "But for some reason, that was the single most unsettling droid personality I've ever seen."

"I don't disagree."

Han laughed. "Yeah, Seashorse is certainly a, uh...a, uh...a droid. Anyway..." He clasped Janna's hand for a second time. "I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess so. Unless..."

Han raised an eyebrow. "Unless what?"

"Unless...do you want to come with us? Finally get away from disgusting mudhorn nest of a planet?"

Han shook his head. "Oh, Janna...I'd love to get out of here, but, unfortunately...I have to stay." Strangely, there was a tiny twinkle in his eye and the corner of his mouth was curled into a whistful smile.

Janna did not notice. She couldn't imagine any reason why someone wouldn't want to get away from Corellia at the first opportunity. "Why not?"

Han shook his head again. "Maybe I'll tell you about it the next time our paths cross."

He shook hands with Tom, as well, and then they parted ways. The pair of smugglers boarded their borrowed shuttle, closing the hatch and retracting the boarding ramp behind them. PY-HD greeted them with a cheerful series of bleeps informing them that the navicomputer was programmed.

"Thanks, Pony. You're the best," Janna said as she sank into the pilot's seat beside Tom. As she flicked some toggle switches to prepare the shuttle for takeoff, she saw Han stroll into view in front of them. "I don't understand why he doesn't want to come with us," she said. "Why would anyone want to stay on Corellia?"

Tom didn't even avert his gaze from his console as he double checked the ship's systems. "You're kidding, right?" he chuckled.

Janna frowned. "Does it sound like I'm kidding?"

"Well, not now."

"What are you getting at, Lucitor? Why doesn't he want to leave?"

Tom shrugged and finally turned to make eye contact with her. "Obviously because of a girl."

"What in the galaxy would make you think that?"

"The look on his face when he said he couldn't leave. I thought it was pretty obvious. He's in love."

Janna turned back toward the viewscreen. Han waved to her from the edge of the landing pad. Janna waved back. Then she put her hands on the control yoke and guided the ship up through the open center of the surrounding building and into the sky. She didn't say a single word more on the subject. Tom decided it might be best to just drop it.

As they wove through the massive Imperial ship-building operation floating in space beyond Corellia's atmosphere, however, Tom was struck with another thought that warranted breaking the silence.

"Hey, Janna?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to tell Marco about what happened to his lightsaber?"

Janna didn't answer. They passed by the furthest reaches of starship-construction area and PY-HD whistled that they were clear to make the jump to hyperspace. Janna wasted no time in pushing the hyperdrive lever forward. Even once the shuttle had made the jump, she still did not give Tom's question an answer.

Because she didn't have one.

* * *

Marco closed his eyes, reveling in the flavor of Mewni cornbread as he chewed. "You know," he said to Star, River, and Moon seated around the breakfast table with him, "If we stayed here forever, I don't think I would ever get sick of this cornbread."

"Trust me, dear, it does eventually lose its majesty." The voice came from the open doorway, and the four seated around the table turned to find Eclipsa standing there, leaning on a cane in her left hand.

"Aunt Eclipsa!" Star exclaimed, jumping up from the table and knocking over her chair. "You're out of the hospital!"

"Yes! I- oof!" Eclipsa gasped as Star wrapped her in a tight hug. She winced as her niece squeezed the spot where she'd be shot. When Star released her, she continued. "The medical droid said I was strong enough to walk, so I thought I would drop in for some breakfast with my family."

"What an great and unexpected surprise," said Moon, smiling at her sister. "I'll have Manfred fetch you a place setting." She called toward a doorway on the opposite side of the room as Star led Eclipsa to a vacant seat at the table. "Oh, Manfred!"

The stuffy servant appeared at the doorway a moment later, nose turned upward, hands clasped behind his back. "Yes, M'lady?"

"Would you bring another place setting for Eclipsa, please?"

He lowered his face and spotted the former senator sitting down at the table across from Marco. "Oh, Senator Butterfly. How wonderful it is to see you."

Marco was not positive, but he thought Manfred's greeting sounded very sarcastic and insincere. Eclipsa just smiled at the servant politely. "It's nice to see you, too, Manfred."

With a flourishing wave of his finger, he gave a very over-exaggerated declaration. "I will fetch another place setting for you posthaste, Senator! I shall return!" And he disappeared back through the doorway.

Eclipsa giggled softly. "I see Manfred is doing well." She looked across the table and caught the puzzled look on Marco's face. "He hates me," she whispered, and winked at the young Padawan.

This left Marco with more questions than answers. "Why?" he whispered back.

Eclipsa gave a good-natured shrug. "No idea. And he'll never admit to it, either."

She quickly fell silent as Manfred returned with a plate, cup, and silverware. He placed them on the table and made a big show out of making sure that they were set just perfectly so in front of Eclipsa. "There you are, Senator. I do hope you enjoy your breakfast!"

Star rolled her eyes at Manfred's sarcasm, earning a stern look from her mother. The servant did not notice.

"Thank you, Manfred," Eclipsa said politely.

"Will you be in need of anything else, M'lady?" he purred.

"I think I'm alright at the moment, Manfred, thank you."

"Very good, M'lady." And he quickly stalked out of the room.

"That was uncomfortable to watch," Marco muttered.

Beside him, Star nodded in agreement. "Extremely."

Eclipsa chuckled again as she poured herself a cup of tea from the pot on the table. "I think it's far more entertaining to just go with it. He makes such a fool of himself. But Manfred is nowhere near as bad as some of the delegates I dealt with in the senate." She helped herself to a few slices of pig-goat bacon. "Quite the colorful bunch they were."

"Oh, totally!" Star said. "Remember that tall guy with the really long ears?"

"You mean Representative Binks?" Marco asked.

"Yeah! Him! He was terrified of you for some reason! Remember that one time Marco and I were there and he came to ask you for some documents?"

Eclipsa laughed so hard that her injury strained, causing her quite a bit of discomfort, but she was not swayed from enjoying the moment. "Oh, yes! He was so nervous, he was visibly shaking! He could barely get the words out of his mouth!"

The King and Queen watched as their daughter, her best friend, and Moon's sister laughed together at the other end of the table. River met his wife's gaze.

"How are we ever going to tell the children it isn't safe for them to be here?" he whispered.

Moon sighed. "I don't know. I really don't know..."

* * *

Security Officer Rosado checked his datapad for the hundredth time. Still no reports. They had pursued after that _Sheathipede-_class shuttle as quickly as they could, but by the time they were able to get into the air, they had already lost sight of the bright red ship. A BOLO had been issued to all Imperial forces in the hopes that someone would spot it and allow the _Mentis Mal _to intercept it, but as of yet, it had seemingly vanished.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Rosado glanced up at the Inquisitor. The intimidating Jedi hunter was pacing back and forth across the Imperial frigate's bridge, having relinquished control of the ship back to the pair of stormtroopers that doubled as designated pilots. It had not said a single word since it had declared the entire task force to be "idiots." Rosado was beginning to worry that if they did not get some kind of good news soon, the inquisitor might turn the _Mentis Mal_ into a flying coffin for he and his troops_. _

His thoughts were interrupted by the stormtrooper copilot. _"Officer Rosado, we're receiving an incoming transmission."_

"Oh, okay. Put-"

"Put it through. Now," the inquisitor snapped, cutting him off.

_"Yes, Inquisitor." _

The stormtrooper tapped a few command keys and the holoprojector lit up, showing a hologram of another stormtrooper.

_"Sir, we've spotted that shuttle."_

"Where?" asked the inquisitor.

_"We are aboard an orbital ship yard security cruiser,"_ explained the trooper._"We spotted it making for open space."_

"Stop that ship! NOW!"

_"We tried, sir. It jumped to hyperspace before we even had a chance to target it."_

Rosado winced. That would do it.

The inquisitor very calmly reached forward and pressed the button to kill the transmission. The holoprojector blinked off. "Take us back down. We're going to find out what those kids were doing here. If we can figure out where they went, we can track them down again and use them to find Butterfly and Diaz."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rosado watched as the inquisitor stalked out of the cabin.

_Wow. That went over way better than I thought it-_

That thought was interrupted as he heard a lightsaber ignite in the hold and the sound of something being hacked to pieces.

_Never mind. Spoke too soon._

* * *

Considering that it was usually operated by droids, the cockpit seats in the _Sheathipede-_class Type-B shuttle were not constructed with any amount of comfort in mind. This did not deter Janna and Tom. Only ten minutes after making the jump to lightspeed, the exhausted smugglers both fell sound asleep in positions that would undoubtedly leave them feeling stiff and sore when they awoke. PY-HD watched them, taking very unflattering holo-recordings of its organic friends, certain it would be very amusing to show to Star later.

An alert chimed on the control panel, startling the pair of teenagers awake.

"Aw, man!" Janna moaned as she stretched and blinked her bleary eyes awake. "How long were we out for?"

Tom checked out the message on his console. "Looks like we're about to drop out of hyperspace," he yawned. "Ugh, I can't wait to get back to that massive guest bed at Butterfly castle. I could sleep for a week."

"Me too." Janna moved her hand to the hyperdrive lever. "I hope we don't make it back here only to find a half-dozen Star Destroyers in orbit over Mewni." She retracted the hyperdrive lever and the swirling colors of hyperspace morphed back into stars. The planet Mewni lay directly before them, thankfully devoid of an Imperial occupation. They both breathed a sigh of relief, but Captain Ordonia was now struck by another worrisome thought.

She really was not looking forward to seeing Marco.

"I'll transmit the clearance codes to the Airbase," Tom said.

Janna flicked a few switches, preparing the ship for atmospheric flight. "Cool. Pony, why don't you contact Star and let her know we're back?"

The droid whistled in compliance.

Tom leaned back his seat. "I'm willing to bet there'll be an aggressive hug from Star for both of us."

Janna nodded. "Yeah. Probably."

* * *

"You're back you're back you're back!"

"Hey, Star, good to- Hurrrk!" Tom was cut off mid-sentence as Star squeezed the air from his lungs with a crushing hug. "Good to- *gasp* -see you, too, Star," he choked out when Star released him.

The Jedi Padawan turned to Janna, still grinning excitedly. "Janna Banana!"

Janna held up her hands defensively. "Star. Wait. Please- Oof!"

Marco chuckled as he watched Captain Ordonia have the life squeezed out of her. "No use trying to fight it, Janna. Just let it happen."

Soon enough, Star released Janna and began asking questions rapid-fire. "So how was Corellia? Did you find all the parts? Did you run into any trouble?"

"Trouble?" Tom began sarcastically. "You wouldn't believe- ow!"

Janna discreetly elbowed her copilot in the ribs, picking up his sentence before he had a chance to finish it. "-how little trouble we had! Completely uneventful! But we did find all the parts we needed," Janna told them, pointing a thumb over her shoulder at the _Sheathipede-_class shuttle. Buff Frog was directing six Skywynne Airbase technicians in the unloading of the replacement parts and the adapter kit for the upgraded hyperdrive. PY-HD was with him, bleeping out curt orders to the technicians who were not sure if they were supposed to be listening to the horned astromech or not.

"That's great!" Marco said. "I can't believe you guys are back so soon. I thought it would have taken you a couple more days, at least."

"Well, you know..." Janna was trying very hard to make eye contact with Marco or even look in his general direction, but found it impossible. She kept involuntarily looking away. At one point her eyes landed on Star, who seemed to be looking back at her with a very perplexed expression. "...I had a very good contact who told us exactly where to look for the parts, and..." Now Marco was watching her with the same confusion. _Change the subject fast. _"...We found them right away. What did we miss while we were gone?"

"Oh, yeah," Tom chimed in. "Anything exciting?"

Neither Padawan responded immediately. They both thought their smuggler friends were acting very strangely.

More strangely than usual, anyway.

"Well, I got my new leg," Marco finally said, lifting the leg of his trousers to show off the new cybernetic appendage.

"Whoa!" Tom and Janna exclaimed as they took in the sight.

"How does it feel?" Tom asked.

"Feels like I have a real leg," Marco replied, bouncing up and down slightly to demonstrate. "I can't even tell it's a prosthetic unless I look at it."

"Lucky," Janna said. "Wish I had one."

Marco folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "That can be arranged. If you give me back my-"

"Sooo!" Seeing where he was going with that statement, Tom quickly cut Marco off. It didn't stop a nervous chill from shooting down Janna's spine, though. "Anything else happen while we were gone?"

Marco raised a suspicious eyebrow at Tom's interruption.

"Oh! Duh!" Star exclaimed. "Aunt Eclipsa showed up!"

"Senator Eclipsa is here?" Janna quickly asked. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah! She was excited to hear that you guys would be back, she wanted to see you!"

"Well, then let's go see her!" Janna started off toward the edge of the landing platform before any more could be said. Tom quickly followed.

Star and Marco looked at each other quizzically as they followed several paces behind their friends.

"Okay, that was super weird, right?" Star asked quietly.

Marco agreed. "Yeah, what is with them?"

"Did you feel it?"

Marco frowned. "Feel what?"

"In the Force. Tom was lying."

"He was? About what?"

"When he said they didn't run into any trouble on Corellia, I could _feel_ his heart rate quicken. He lied."

Marco squinted at their friends walking just ahead of them, heading through the door into the main building of the airbase. "Well, Janna was acting awfully weird, too. Weird by Janna standards, anyway."

"Yeah, I noticed. Something weird is going on with them, and I don't much care for it."

"Me neither. Something definitely happened on Corellia." Marco stopped walking, placing a hand on Star's shoulder. He made hard eye contact with her. "And if they don't want to tell us about it..."

Star's eyes widened. "Then it must be something really bad."

"Exactly."

It was Star's turn to frown. "But what would be bad enough that wouldn't they just tell us?"

* * *

As they hurried toward the exit and a waiting speeder to take them all back to Butterfly Castle, Tom whispered to Janna, hoping that their friends were out of earshot. "So, what, we're just lying to Star and Marco now?"

"I panicked, okay? Look, I'll tell Marco when there isn't anyone else around."

"What difference does it make?"

"I don't know. It's embarrassing! Would you want to tell somebody that you lost the single most important thing they own when there's a whole bunch of other people around to witness your screwup?"

Tom shot a quick glance back to make sure their Jedi friends had not closed the gap between them. Star and Marco still lagged behind. "...I guess not."

"I promise I'll tell them right after we get something to eat. I'm starving."

"Yeah, so am I. But, Janna, they are Jedi. What if they can sense that you're lying?"

"Then I won't lie. I'll tell the truth and just leave out certain information."

Tom rolled his eyes as they walked out the front door into Mewni sunshine. "Yeah, I'm sure this won't backfire."

**Next: Glossaryck reveals secrets...**


	32. Bound By The Force

**I've often felt like I have trouble keeping Star in-character, but I realized that most of the time, anything I could possibly write sounds in-character for Star as long as I imagine her saying it in the right tone.**

Standing atop the hull of the _Mentis Mal_, the inquisitor surveyed Coronet City, searching for some tremor in the Force that may provide any kind of investigative direction. Rosado's stormtroopers had been dispatched in pairs armed with holos of the two teenage fugitives, instructed to ask every person they encountered if they recalled seeing the human girl and her demonicite companion.

_What were you brats doing here? What purpose could you possibly have had on Corellia?_

_And where did you go...?_

* * *

"Oh, Thomas! Janna!"

Tom gave a small wave in greeting. "Hi, Senator Butterfl- erk!"

Letting her walking cane fall to the walkway, Eclipsa threw one arm around Tom and the other around Janna, squeezing both of them in a group hug. "How lovely it is to see you both!"

Tom was once again left gasping for air when the senator released them. "It's nice *gasp* to see you, too, *gasp* Senator. Man, I can see where Star gets her hugging skills from."

Eclipsa chuckled. "You can just call me 'Eclipsa', dear. I'm afraid I'm not a senator anymore."

Janna bent down and retrieved Eclipsa's cane from the floor. "What happened to you?" she asked as she handed it back to its owner.

"Well, it's quite a long story..."

From behind her, King River piped up. "You two must be tired from your long trip."

"Starving, too!" Tom put in.

River chuckled. "Indeed! The royal chefs are almost finished preparing lunch! Why don't we all adjourn to the dining hall? Eclipsa can catch up with Janna and Tom, and you two can tell us all about your adventures on Corellia!"

"No adventures!" Janna interjected just a little bit too quickly. The others stared at her quizzically. "I mean, barely anything happened. Not much of a story to tell."

River looked disappointed. Moon, however, smiled happily. "Well, it will be nice to have so much company for lunch!"

Having been quietly watching from behind, Star and Marco squinted at Janna as the others followed Moon and River through the castle's main entrance.

"I'm not buying that one bit," Marco said.

"Me neither," Star agreed. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Oh, Janna Banana, what are you hiding...?"

* * *

As the group sat down to second meal, Eclipsa retold the story of her encounter with the Empire on Endor to Tom and Janna. Star and Marco were uncharacteristically quiet, watching their friends carefully...while also holding hands under the table. They watched their friends like a hawk-bat watches it's prey, observing their reactions and body language, Star trying to feel their emotions change with the Force.

"...so now my side is just a bit sore, and I'm still a bit unsteady when I walk, hence the cane," Eclipsa finished.

Tom swallowed a bite of his lunch before speaking. "You really had quite an ordeal, Sen- uh, Eclipsa."

"Indeed. It certainly was..." She closed her eyes, attempting to block out the memories of the pain. She quickly snapped back to the present, smiling at her young smuggler friends. "So! Star and Marco told me all about the adventures the four of you-"

PY-HD whistled indignantly from the corner.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Pony Head! I heard all about the adventures the _five_ of you had escaping from Coruscant and whatnot from Star and Marco. How was your trip to Corellia?"

"Perfectly uneventful," Janna said, calmly taking a forkful of Mewni corn in her mouth. Star squinted at her. She could sense a tremor in the Force, suggesting that Janna did not actually believe the words coming out of her mouth.

"Well, tell us about it!" King River pleaded.

Janna carefully wiped her mouth on a napkin. Marco didn't think he'd ever seen Janna move so meticulously. It were as if she were trying very hard to act normal.

_Don't say anything that technically isn't true. _"Well, we landed in Clefttorch Spaceport, took the maglev to Coronet City, and met up with my old friend, Han."

"You have other friends besides us?" asked a genuinely surprised Marco. Star elbowed him in the ribs, frowning at his rudeness.

"Ow!"

"Marco!" she scolded.

"Go easy on him, Star," Tom laughed. "I thought the same thing."

Janna ignored them and continued. "Han recommended a place where we could get the parts we needed for the _Raventalon_-"

"And let me tell ya, the customer service at this place was off the hook!" cut in Tom.

"Yeah, it was. So we bought the parts- Thank you again, River- And then we picked them up with the shuttle and came back here." _None of that was a lie. It was all true. _

Marco gently set down his fork, taking a deep breath. "Janna?"

His tone sent a wave of anxiety through Janna's body. She desperately attempted to mask it on her face. "Yeah?"

"Why are you lying to us?"

A chill ran down Janna's spine as her entire body tensed up, not at all expecting a question so blatant. "Wh-why would you ask that, Marco?"

The three adults watched with equal parts surprise and utter confusion.

Star sighed. "Janna, we know you aren't telling the us truth. I can feel your emotions in the Force, you are _totally _lying. You have got some 'splainin' to do, girl."

"I can't believe you guys!" Janna said, hoping she sounded sufficiently annoyed to warrant storming out. She stood, knocking her chair backwards as she leaned over the table toward her friends on the other side. "You would seriously accuse me of lying? I haven't said a single word that isn't true!"

Marco looked at Tom. The demonicite appeared worried. "Tom? You were there. Is Janna telling the truth?"

"Uh...well...she isn't lying."

Star abruptly stood up, knocking her chair over just as Janna had, leaning toward her and squinting into the Captain's already narrowed eyes.

"Star, what in the name of Mewni are you doing?!" Queen Moon exclaimed as she watched Star and Janna stare each other down. She started to stand up herself, but River put a hand on his wife's arm and stopped her.

"Hold on a moment, Dear. Let's see where this goes." He hungrily took a bite of his meat without ever averting his eyes from the two teenage girls staring each other down from opposite sides of the table.

Star was reaching out with the Force, focusing on Janna's mind. She had never attempted this before, but she knew it was possible to read another person's thoughts, and, since she could already feel Janna's emotions, she figured it was worth a try. "You're not angry..." she whispered.

"You're right. I'm furious."

"No. You're not. You're trying to hide your true feelings. You're worried. Embarrassed. No...ashamed."

Janna leaned even further over the table. Only about six inches separated her from Star. "You can't read me, Star."

"What are you ashamed of? Something else happened on Corellia, didn't it?" The young Jedi fell silent for a moment, focusing on her friend.

"This is ridiculous," Janna muttered, and she started to retract, but Star grabbed her by the cheeks and pulled her face closer until their foreheads and noses touched. "Star! What are you-?!"

"You lost something. Something important."

Marco glanced at Tom, who seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with everyone in the room. Whatever Janna was hiding, the demonicite definitely knew. He turned back to the girls. Janna no longer looked angry. She looked worried.

"What did you lose...?" Star whispered dramatically. "It was something...something that didn't belong to you..."

"Star, please..." Janna sounded like she was pleading for the Padawan to stop her interrogation.

Star ignored her, replying in a nearly inaudible whisper. "Your thoughts will betray youuuuuuuu..."

"Star-" Tom began, but he was cut off. PY-HD was madly bleeping from the corner.

Tom and Janna froze at the astromech's binary translation. Star's eyes went wide. She slowly released Janna and they each retreated to their own side of the table.

Marco was lost. He was the only one who didn't understand astromech binary. "Uh...did Pony Head say something...important? Or something?"

Star folded her arms and glared at Tom and Janna, the latter of which hung her head in shame. "Well? You gonna tell us what happened?"

Janna sighed. She turned around and picked up her chair from the floor, sat back down, and slid back up to the table. "Remember that thing that attacked you on Coruscant, Marco?"

Star picked up her own chair and resumed her seat. "Don't tell me you ran into it on Corellia!"

"We did. I don't know how, but somehow it knew that Tom and I are the ones who helped you guys escape. It attacked us on the subway."

Janna went on to tell the tale of their encounter with the Inquisitor. Moon, River, and Eclipsa listened with shock and bated breath as she recounted being Force-choked on the subway station platform. River cheered when she told of how she stabbed the Imperial Officer in the leg to escape. She spoke slower and slower as the story closed in on the events she most wanted to keep a secret.

"...So...that thing had Tom pinned down on the floor, it's lightsaber across the back of his neck...I didn't have any other choice..." Janna sighed yet again, falling silent as she reached the point of no return.

Marco looked from Janna to Tom to Star. They all appeared to already know what was coming. His eyes widened as he remembered what Janna had still been in possession of and realized what must be about to happen. "No...you didn't..."

A slow nod from Janna confirmed his assumption before she answered. "Yeah. I used your lightsaber."

"You actually dueled against that thing?"

"Yup."

The story continued, Janna detailing the events of her duel with the inquisitor and eventually making her way up to the roof of the maglev. She stared down at the table as she reached the part of the story she dreaded most.

"So...I tried to trick it by pretending to surrender, but..." She swallowed nervously. "When I tried to surprise attack, it got the better of me. It was going to cut off my arm, and...I had no choice..." She fell silent again.

Tom already knew what was coming. Star now knew because of PY-HD's spoiler.

Marco watched them grimace. "No choice but to do what?" he asked hesitantly.

"I had to drop it..." Janna shut her eyes. "Marco...I lost your lightsaber. I'm so sorry."

The dining hall became so silent it may as well have been a tomb. Janna opened one eye and nervously checked to see how Marco was handling the news.

"You...you lost...Master Fisto's lightsaber?" he said slowly. He sounded as though he were about to cry.

"Marco, I'm really sor-"

"I trusted you...with the only thing I have left of my friend...and you lost it?!" In the span of one sentence, Marco's tone had shifted from sorrow to anger. The last four words came out as a yell.

"I'm sorry, Marco, I didn't have a choice!"

Star started to reach for Marco's arm, to touch him, to offer him comfort, but she froze in fear when she noticed his eyes. Gone were the warm, brown iris's she was used to. As if someone had flipped a switch, his eyes had suddenly become a sickly yellow. A chill passed through her body like a wave. It was familiar, and she knew exactly what it was.

The Dark Side of the Force.

"I trusted you, Janna! But you don't care! You've never respected me!"

"That's not true, Marco, I- Whoa!" Janna let out a surprised gasp as she realized that she was suddenly levitating off of her chair. In fact, everything in the room was beginning to float into the air. The cutlery, the chairs, the table, Star, Tom, Eclipsa, River, Moon, and even PY-HD in the corner were all slowly rising into the air. The three adults cried out shock.

"JANNA!" Marco screamed. "YOU'LL PAY FOR YOUR IRRESPONSIBILITY!" Marco raised his arms, aiming his palms toward Janna. If she were not already scared enough, pure terror struck when she caught sight of Marco's yellowed eyes staring through her like a plasma cutter. As the others in the room screamed Marco's name, begging for him to stop, Janna clenched her eyes shut, prepared for the worst.

But then, everything abruptly dropped back down, the plates and cutlery clattering back onto the table, the people grunting and gasping as they roughly landed back in their seats.

Star looked at her best friend beside her. Marco's entire body trembled as though he were shivering, his lower lip shuttered. Tears streamed down his cheeks from his eyes...

His eyes. They were brown again.

Everyone stared at him silently, no one sure how to address what had just occurred. Marco slowly pushed back his chair and stood, turning and hurrying out of the dining hall, his prosthetic leg clicking softly on the carpeted floor.

"What just happened?" Tom asked of no one particular.

"Was Marco just levitating all of us with the Force?" Eclipsa asked. "All at the same time?"

Star nodded, clearly worried. "Yeah...he was..." _Wow...that's twice now that Marco suddenly became more powerful...like, WAY more powerful...with the Force while he was angry..._ She stood up from the table hesitantly. "I'll go talk to him," she said slowly.

Moon raised her hand, signaling for her daughter to stop. "Star, perhaps that isn't such a good idea."

"I'll be fine, Mom," Star assured her as she walked past her parents at the table head.

"But what if-"

"Moon." Eclipsa cut her sister off, clasping a hand on the Queen's wrist. "Star could not possibly be safer with that boy. He would never, ever do anything to cause her arm. Trust me."

Moon looked away and watched her daughter disappear through the doorway. "If you say so..."

A few moments of awkward silence passed. Eclipsa clapped her hands together, smiling. "Well! This has been a most eventful lunch!"

* * *

Star found her best friend in his guest room. Marco was sitting on the side of the bed, his hood up, his face hidden in his hands.

"Marco?" she called quietly. "Are you okay?"

As she approached with respectful caution, Marco moved his hands away from his face, but he stared straight ahead, not looking at her. Star could see that his cheeks, and his brown eyes, were moist with tears.

"What just happened, Star?"

She sat down beside him, draping an arm around his back and pulling him to her. He rested his head on her shoulder. "You...got upset."

"That wasn't just upset. That was...anger, Star. I've never been so angry before. I..." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I felt like I had no control over my actions."

Star knew why. She had felt the chill of the Dark Side in her best friend. She wondered if he knew, too.

"I guess Darth Bane's ghost was right," Marco moaned. "There really is darkness in me. A lot of it." He looked up at Star, and she saw pure fear in his eyes. "Star...I was going to hurt Janna."

"But you didn't."

"But I could have. What if...what if I turn on you?"

"Marco-"

Marco pushed himself away from her. "I already know what you're going to say, Star! Don't say I never would! You don't know that." He got to his feet. "I can't stay here...it's too dangerous. I have to get away from here before I hurt you or anyone else!" He started quickly for the door, not daring to even look at Star.

"Marco!" She jumped to her feet and hurried after him. "Wait!"

Marco pushed open the door and leapt backwards with a start, startled by Glossaryck floating directly in front of his eyes on the other side. "Gah!" he yelped, and crashed to the floor on his back.

As Star knelt down at his side, the little blue man silently sank toward the floor until he was hovering a few centimeters above Marco's face. "Marco, my boy! Wherever are you going?" His tone was mocking.

"Ugh, Glossaryck..." Marco slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head where it made contact with the floor. He refused to look at Star despite the fact that she was now holding his arm as if he would float away if she let go. "I...I can't...tell you."

"Hmm? Tell me what? About the Dark Side of the Force writhing around inside of you like an angry vine snake?"

Both Padawans were stunned. "You...you knew?" Marco asked.

"Of course. I sensed it the moment I met you."

Marco pulled himself up to a sitting position. Star loosened but did not relinquish her grasp on his arm. "And you didn't say anything about it?! You weren't worried that I might lose control and hurt someone?"

Glossaryck stroked his beard, smirking to himself. "Well, no, as a matter of fact. I wasn't. Because your counter is here."

The Padawans exchanged a confused glance. "'Counter'?" they asked in unison.

Glossaryck casually floated in a slow circle around their heads. "Oh, that's right! You two aren't aware of the prophecy."

Star frowned. "Um, yes we are, Glossaryck, and I really don't see what the prophecy of the Chosen One has to do with this."

"No, no, no, not that prophecy, the _other _prophecy."

"What other prophecy?" they demanded in unison again.

Glossaryck chuckled and turned away. "After I left the Jedi Order, I had a premonition of the future that I never shared with the Order. And I think..." He abruptly spun around as dramatically as possible, pointing to the pair of Padawans before him. "...this prophecy is about the two of you."

A confused glance passed between Star and Marco for a second time. "Um...okay?" inquired Star, motioning for Glossaryck to elaborate.

"My prophecy went like this:

"A pair of beings, their presence shared,

Matched inverse power when compared.

A perfect balance is achieved,

When their singularities are cleaved."

The Padawans blankly stared at the little blue man.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna need more than that," Star said.

"Why? I don't think it could possibly be any more clear. Think about it."

Star frowned. "Um...well...you said 'A pair of beings.' Obviously you think that's me and Marco."

"That is correct."

"'Their presence shared.' So we both have to be in the same place?"

"Physical location is not what that line refers to."

"Okay, well then what _does_ it refer to?"

Glossaryck smirked at them. "Have you ever been able to sense the presence of another being in the Force and you know exactly who it is without seeing them?"

"Sure. I always feel Marco's presence when he's nearby, even if I can't see him. And occasionally I could sense Master Fisto."

Marco shrugged. "I usually can't sense anything."

Glossaryck nodded at Star. "Do, uh, 'Master Fisto' and Marco's presences feel the same to you?"

"No, they're totally different."

"Understand now?"

"Less than before, Glossaryck."

The little blue man chuckled. "Every living being has a unique presence in the Living Force. Except for you two. To me, the two of you feel exactly the same. You share an identical presence in the Living Force."

Star and Marco both turned pale, each taking great care not to look in the other's general direction. "Uh...does that mean...?" Marco began.

Glossaryck laughed. "That you're related? No! No no no! Absolutely not. Boy, that would have been really awkward, what with you two always making out when no one else is around."

They both turned even paler, chorusing "You know about that, too?!"

Glossaryck could not help but laugh again. "I know lots of things, kids. But rest assured, no two beings share an identical presence in the living Force, even if they are related. Except for you two. Though, I can differentiate that you exude light-" He pointed to Star, then Marco. "-And you are filled with darkness."

"Okay..." Star said slowly, not sure that she entirely understood. "Well, then you said 'matched inverse power.' So...if you can sense it, I guess I'm light and Marco is dark, but our powers aren't matched."

"Yeah," Marco concurred. "I'm barely Force-sensitive. Star is way stronger than I am."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you just made everyone and everything in the dining hall float."

"Oh...yeah..." Marco rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I did. Wait, how did I even do that?!"

"The Dark Side of the Force is very powerful. Your midichlorians may be low, but when you utilize the Dark Side within you, it can make you just as powerful as Star."

"No offense, Glossaryck, but that sounds like a terrible idea," Star deadpanned.

Marco concurred. "Yeah, doesn't the Dark Side tend to, you know, corrupt its users' minds? I literally just tried to kill Janna because I was so angry!"

"That's the brilliance of your weak connection to the Force. The Dark Side can't take hold enough to corrupt you. You stopped yourself before you hurt Janna because you still believe in your Jedi ideals and subconsciously knew that it was wrong to seek revenge. It is actually possible to learn the ways of the Dark Side without being corrupted, but it requires a ridiculous amount of discipline. You, on the other hand, should be able to learn it quite easily."

"I don't know...still sounds really dangerous."

Star sank down on the edge of the bed and rubbed her weary eyes. "Oh, my head hurts. This is soooo much to take in. What was the rest of that dumb rhyme?"

"'A perfect balance is achieved when their singularities are cleaved,'" Glossaryck repeated as he floated himself down to her eye level.

Star threw up her hands in frustration. "What the heck does 'singularities cleaved' even mean?"

"Well, the way I figure, since you two share a presence in the living Force, and one of you is light and the other dark, the two of you together make one complete Force-sensitive being, one who makes the living Force within you, and likely anything you focus on, perfectly balanced."

"And...?" Marco raised an eyebrow. "What exactly does it mean...if we're perfectly balanced?"

"I would imagine you would be able to use the Force to its fullest potential."

Star frowned. "Hang on. I thought the Dark Side is what makes the Force out-of-balance."

"Yeah, Master Fisto used to tell us that the 'hidden Sith Lord' they'd been searching for - which turned out to be the Chancellor - was the reason that the Force was unbalanced."

Glossaryck nodded. "An incredibly powerful dark Force user could cause the Dark Side's influence to grow and eclipse the Light. That is why the Force is and has been so out of balance. The Sith have disrupted the natural order of the universe. But the Dark Side will always exist whether the Sith do or not."

Star and Marco exchanged a glance. As far as they were concerned, this prophecy was more like a riddle than a premonition. What exactly were they supposed to do with this information, anyway?

"Glossaryck?" Marco asked. "I am putting everyone in danger by being here?"

"I don't think you're a danger to anyone, my boy. Especially not with Star here. She's your counter."

"My counter?"

Glossaryck massaged the bridge of his nose in frustration. "We just went over this. You're two halves of one whole Force user. Star balances you out. Her natural alignment with the Light Side of the Force helps keeps your darkness in check."

"Oh." Marco considered this. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

Star raised an eyebrow. "It does?"

Marco took a seat on the bed beside her. "Yeah. Remember back on Coruscant, I told you that I was so angry and wanted revenge on Palpatine so badly that I was ready to go run off and kill him?"

"Oh, yeah...you said you stopped because I came in."

"Yeah. As soon as I saw you, I calmed down. I guess you, uh...countered me."

"That actually reminds me of something else. Remember that same day? You were doing some pretty impressive things with the Force that I'd never seen you be able to do."

"Oh, yeah...I was angry about Kit's death again...I must have been drawing from the Dark Side without even knowing it."

"Huh..." Star took Marco's hand. "I guess it's possible that prophecy is about us."

"Yeah."

"So," Marco asked of Glossaryck, "What do we do now?"

The little blue man smiled. "Well, I've been around a few thousand years, I've studied the Dark Side and the Light myself. I will do my best to train you, and hopefully together, we will be able to figure out how to harness the abilities that you two have, whatever they may be."

The two Padawans turned to face each other, both apprehensive to accept Glossaryck's proposal.

"Well...what do you think, Marco?"

Marco stared into his best friend's vibrant blue eyes. He could almost feel his anxieties and fears melting away. Glossaryck was right. Star was indeed his counter, the light that restored his positivity and restricted his darkness. "I think...I will be more likely to not put my friends in danger if I learn how to properly channel my emotions..."

"A true statement," Glossaryck interjected.

"And..." Marco squeezed Star's hand in his own. "...if you and I together have the ability to harness some kind of massive power...maybe we would be able to defeat Palpatine."

Star squeezed his hand back as she looked back into his warm brown eyes. "Master Fisto did say that you and I make a great team. I've always believed that together, you and I could do anything. Now it seems like we were actually meant to."

Marco smiled. "You're the Princess. I'll follow you wherever you lead."

Star shook her head, softly chuckling. "No, Marco. Neither of us is the leader. You and I are best friends, just like we always have been. We'll do this together, just like everything else we've ever done, and we'll defeat Palpatine and we'll save the galaxy from the Sith!"

"I don't know how you could possibly say no to that," Glossaryck quipped.

Marco laughed. "Okay, Star." He squeezed her hand again. "Together."

Star couldn't help herself. She threw arms around Marco's neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Their lips only touched for a second before Marco quickly broke away.

"Star! Glossaryck is right there!"

They both looked at him, and the little blue man gave a teasing wave.

"Dude, he already knows, remember? He told us."

Glossaryck waggled his eyebrows at them.

"Yeah. Good point." Marco pulled Star to him this time, much to her delight, as they embraced each other and kissed happily for nearly a full minute. "Aw, man," Marco groaned mournfully when they parted.

Star frowned. "Okay, not quite the response you hope to get after kissing."

"What? Oh! No no no! It's not that! I just remembered that I...don't have a lightsaber anymore. I'm not much of a Jedi without one."

"I may be able to help with that."

The Padawans jumped in surprise at the voice. Eclipsa was standing in the open doorway, smiling warmly as she leaned on her walking cane.

"Has that door been open this whole time?" Glossaryck wondered aloud.

"Aunt Eclipsa!" Star exclaimed, blushing madly. "H-h-how long have you been standing there?!"

Eclipsa chuckled. "Long enough to confirm my suspicions. I always suspected there were sparks flying between you two."

"Wait a minute," Star said, shaking her head, "You knew Marco and I had feelings for each other, and Tom and Janna both figured it out before we did..."

Marco covered his eyes, his face just as red as Star's. "Are we just the two most oblivious people in the galaxy?"

Eclipsa slowly made her way closer, chuckling as she leaned on her cane. "Marco, I am sorry that your lightsaber was lost. I know it meant a great deal to you, being that it belonged to your mentor. I know it probably feels as though you've lost the only thing you have to remember him by, but Master Fisto will always be with you." She gently lay a hand over his heart. "In here."

Marco sighed. "I know. You're right."

"As for you being short of a weapon..." She reached into the pocket of her dress and retrieved Master Rhombulus's lightsaber. The Padawans' eyes went wide, both having forgotten that Eclipsa was in possession of the late Knight's weapon. She held it out to him. "I think Rhomby would want you to have this, given the circumstances."

Hesitation gripped Marco as he reached for the lightsaber, his hand hovering an inch away from the weapon, afraid to take it. Looking past Eclipsa, Star gave him an encouraging smile.

Eclipsa understood his apprehension. "Go on, dear. Take it."

Marco's fingers closed around the cool metal of the hilt. He slowly held it up to his face, examining it closely. It was quite a bit different than either his or Kit Fisto's; thicker and more elaborate, with a gemstone resembling the Jedi Knight's crystalline head set into the bottom end.

He looked away from the weapon, meeting Star's eyes. "But what if I-?"

"You won't."

His best friend sure had a lot of faith in him. Pointing the emitter of the lightsaber away from Star and Eclipsa, Marco tapped the activation plate and the azure blade ignited, humming as he stared at it. He merely watched the blue glow for a moment and then extinguished the blade again. "Thank you, Aunt Eclipsa," he told her, managing a smile. "You're the best."

She held open her arms, tossing her cane onto the bed. "Come here, Dear. I think you need a hug."

"Yeah. I do."

Eclipsa wrapped him in a loving embrace and Star came around and hugged him from behind. Glossaryck watched with interest, thinking to himself that, in his thousands of years of life, he wasn't sure that he had ever seen such genuine affection.

"Now then," Eclipsa said when they parted. "I think we should probably go back downstairs."

"Yeah...I should probably apologize to everyone," agreed Marco. "Especially Janna."

"Indeed." Eclipsa retrieved her cane from the bed and led the way out of the guest bedroom. "Come along."

"Hey, you won't tell the King and Queen about me and Star being a thing, right?" Marco asked as he followed behind his surrogate aunt.

"Haha, of course not! I won't deprive you two the enjoyment of sneaking around!"

"That's not quite what I meant..."

Marco's voice faded from earshot down the corridor. Star still remained in the guest room.

"Aren't you going with them?" Glossaryck asked.

"Glossaryck..." Star sank down onto the side of the bed again. "I know you think the Jedi's rules are dumb, and, I mean, so do I, but...they always told us that emotional attachment, especially to another being, was a bad thing."

"Well, it can be. Losing the thing or person to which a Force-user was emotionally attached often causes anger, which can, unchecked, lead down a very dark path. One that is nearly impossible to return from."

"You didn't seem very concerned about me and Marco being...in love...Marco is already aligned with the Dark Side just naturally! You don't think that's dangerous?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"You weren't listening. You and Marco are two halves of one whole. If anything, the two of you were destined to have a-" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "-'romantic connection.' You two quite literally complete each other.

"The Force works in very strange and mysterious ways, Star. The ripples of destiny in the cosmic stew of the universe are always changing and shifting, bringing things together and moving other things apart. But when it comes to you and Marco, the two of you are quite literally bound together by the Force."

**Finally, 32 chapters in, the prophecy from the opening title crawl is finally revealed. This chapter was extremely difficult to write, hopefully it makes at least some sense. I'm sure in the context of Star Wars it doesn't make much sense, but hey, it's a crossover, it's hard to combine all this stuff in a way that works perfectly sometimes.**


	33. Dipping Down and Cleaving

**This chapter was very difficult to write what with all the ways I tried to tie elements of the show into, you know, the Force. Hopefully I did a decent job of that. ****_  
_**

**Although, I do think Star feels more in-character in this chapter than any chapters prior, so that's a plus. **

_One standard week later..._

The door slid open the instant the pair of stormtroopers knocked, revealing a tall assassin droid.

"What is your directive?" it droned.

One trooper held up a small holoviewer. It showed two images, ripped from security footage, displayed side-by-side. _"We're looking for these two fugitives. They had business here in the city about seven rotations ago. Have you seen them?"_

The droid stared silently at the holographic images for a second as if considering the question. "My programming does not permit me to divulge such information."

The stormtroopers gave an exasperated sigh. The second trooper stepped forward, pulling a device from his belt. _"Guess we'll have to slice it."_

"What are you-?" Before the droid could finish its question, the trooper had slapped a restraining bolt onto its chest plate. It was no ordinary restraining bolt, though. It shut down all AI functionality, including balance, and the assassin droid unceremoniously fell forward, crashing to the ground. The first trooper produced a small tool kit and dropped down to one knee beside the droid. He removed the fasteners from the droid's rear cranial access panel and flipped it away. _"Have at it,"_ he said, standing up and moving aside to give his partner room.

The second stormtrooper took his place, attaching a cable to his datapad and connecting the other end to the droid's memory access port. He made quick work of bypassing the security lockout and accessing the droid's memory banks.

_"Okay. He's ready." _

They rolled the droid over onto its back and the stormtrooper used his datapad to command AI functionality return, but kept motor-skills switched off so that the droid could not move.

The first stormtrooper held up the holoviewer again. _"Droid, have you seen these two?" _

"Yes."

_"Do you know who they are?"_

"Yes."

_"Who are they?"_

"Captain Ordonia and Lucy."

_"'Lucy'?"_ the second trooper wondered as he recorded the droid's responses in his datapad. _"Lucy Lucille Lucitor?"_

"Lucy," the droid repeated.

The first trooper went on. _"What business did they have here?"_

"Shopping."

_"Shopping? Shopping for what?"_

"Parts."

_"What kind of parts?"_

"It is not my directive to know."

The troopers looked at each other, then to the open doorway through which the droid had emerged.

_"Let's check it out."_

Inside they found a tiny, grimy room with no discernible features save for an empty cabinet set into the rusty durasteel wall on the left and a keypad on the adjacent wall that operated some unseen device.

The first trooper threw up its hands in confusion. _"There's nothing here. It's just an empty room. I thought that droid said they were shopping for parts."_

_"I sure don't see any parts."_

_"So what were they doing here?"_

_"Who cares? They were here, that's all the inquisitor will care about. Let it figure out what they were doing here."_

__"Good point. I'll call it in."__

* * *

They stood a pace apart, weapons at the ready, staring each other down, daring the other to make the first move. The air in the forest was deathly still; no breeze rustled through the branches, and no birds or winged reptiles chirped in their leaves. The pair of onlookers held their breath, not daring to make a distracting sound.

Separated by barely a millisecond, the lightsaber in each combatant's hand ignited. The clash of the plasma blades shattered the stillness of the mid-afternoon, and more followed.

Back and forth, ebbing and flowing like the tide against a shore, the opponents blocked and parried, the shimmering blades creating a hypnotizing swirl of blue and green. The duel raged on for several long minutes.

Janna checked her chronometer. "Six minutes, you guys."

Their blades locked together, the opponents leaning hard against one another's sword. "Longest one yet!" Marco said, hoping that he sounded sufficiently encouraging. "You're getting better, Star!"

But Star still felt unsure of herself, the way she always did during practice duels.

Facing off against opponents wielding blasters, Star was nearly unstoppable. Her acute connection to the Force strengthened and accelerated her movements, her emerald lightsaber becoming a blur as she deflected any shot that came near her. Her adventures on Coruscant and Moraband had proven that much.

But her saber-to-saber combat skills still had their woes.

Three days earlier had been the beginning of training. She and Marco would venture out into the woods with Glossaryck, far from distraction and away from innocent civilians who might be accidentally caught up in...they weren't exactly sure what. Together, they would meditate, attempting to join Star and Marco's focus, hoping to achieve...something.

When they weren't training with Glossaryck (Star found the hours of quiet meditation and focus to be extremely boring) Marco worked with Star on her dueling.

"The problem with Shii-Cho," he had told her, referring to the lightsaber form they had both been taught as younglings, "is that the motions are kind of...how do I put this? They're big and swoopy. So you tend to leave yourself unprotected a lot." He ignited the azure blade of his new lightsaber and slowly moved through the classic motions of Form I lightsaber combat, demonstrating the many points in the motions that left him unprotected by the blade.

"But Master Fisto used Shii-Cho, didn't he?" Star had asked. "And he faced off against spin-y twirly General 'Immaaddyourlightsabertomycollection'. Can't imagine that guy is easy to fight if you're constantly leaving yourself open."

"True, Kit did fight General Grievous, and he had him on the ropes, too, if what he said was true. But Kit was such a master of the form that he made up for its short-comings," Marco explained. "He defeated me pretty handily the first few times we dueled until he started to teach me his tricks, but I really started getting better when I started learning some of the Form III techniques. That's the form Master Kenobi used."

"Oh, well, that guy was in tons of duels and never so much as lost a finger, so I guess he must have been doing something right," Star joked.

"Exactly. I think Form III would suit you better than Form I, anyway, because it focuses more on defense than offense. You know how Obi-Wan Kenobi survived so many duels? He simply outlasted his opponent, keeping the fight going until his opponent started to run out of stamina and made a mistake for him to take advantage of."

"Everyone in the Temple always said that I was high-energy," she laughed. "Might as well put it to use the same way Obi-Wan did."

So Marco showed Star how he had learned to incorporate some of the defensive Form III motions into his own Form I technique.

Since Buff Frog insisted that the mechanics at Skywynne Airbase would take care of the installation of the _Raventalon_'s new hyperdrives and engine (though Captain Ordonia had insisted that PY-HD would stay with her ship), Janna and Tom found it very entertaining to watch their Jedi friends practice with their lightsabers. After the incident on the day of their return to Mewni, Marco was surprised at how easily Janna accepted his apology.

"Dude, seriously, don't sweat it. Even if you _had _killed me, I wouldn't have been upset with you."

Marco almost didn't know how to react. "Really?"

"Sure. I don't want to die a boring death. I want my death to be _legendary_. Being the first victim of a Force-user falling to the Dark Side, _that _would have been memorable." She put her arm around Marco's shoulders. "Trust me, Dude, it's cool. I mean, I did lose your lightsaber."

"And that wasn't really your fault."

"I say we call it even and move on." She took her arm from around his shoulders and stuck out her hand. "Friends?"

Marco smiled. He grasped her hand appreciatively and shook it. "Friends."

In retrospect, Marco realized he probably shouldn't have been surprised that Janna was totally cool with it. Nothing much ever really phased her.

As for Moon and River, who were understandably distressed at the thought of someone so clearly violent and unstable being in close proximity to their daughter, Glossaryck had taken care of them.

"I wasn't aware you could use the Force to erase someone's memory," Star said.

Glossaryck laughed. "I'd say not to tell any of the other Jedi, but, ah..."

"Yeah..."

"Seriously, though, don't try this yourself. I only erased the very specific memory of Marco making everyone in the dining hall float around. It took years for me to figure out how to erase something specific like that. First time I did it, the guy I tried it on forgot how to breathe."

"Errg."

And so, Star having had enough Force-training for one day, the pair had another duel. She met Marco's eyes across the locked crackling sabers and gave a nervous smile. "If I managed to not lose for this long, then I must be getting a little better," she said. "But I'm still not sure I could beat you."

"Then do what I always did to try to beat Master Fisto."

"What's that?"

"Get creative."

"Creative, huh?" An idea popped into Star's mind. It was probably a dirty move, but she didn't imagine that anyone actually trying to kill her would give her a fair fight.

Quickly, Star stepped back, ducking as Marco's blade shot forward without resistance against it. Her opponent's blade now nowhere near his body, she lunged forward, swinging her blade upward from her side. Marco hastily flipped his lightsaber in front of him and their swords collided hard enough for a handful of sparks to fly over his shoulder. Marco's blade was knocked to the side again and nearly flew from his hand. He stumbled backwards a few steps, out of Star's range. Her plan hadn't quite worked.

"Wow, okay! You nearly had me there!" He smiled confidently. "But you won't catch me off guard that easily!"

His balance restored, Marco charged forward and their rapid back-and-forth exchange resumed. A full minute passed and their fight did not slow. Janna called out seven minutes, then eight, then ten. All the while, Star looked for an opening to attempt to put her plan into action again. When none came, she decided to invent her own opportunity: by pretending to be losing.

She blocked a particularly hard strike from Marco and pretended to be knocked off-balance, stumbling backwards a step and allowing Marco to double his attack. She let the second hit knock her over backward. Not prepared for the sudden loss of resistance, Marco lost his own balance and fell forward, ending up on his knees astride Star on the ground, their lightsabers locked between them. He continued the engagement, though, pressing as hard as he could against Star's lightsaber.

All was going according to Star's plan. She carefully let Marco push her lightsaber down, his face drawing closer and closer to hers. And then, when they finally drew near enough together, Star gave him a firm kiss on the lips.

The returning resistance on her lightsaber slackened. Marco looked utterly confused, blinking in shock.

"Wha-?"

And then he launched a dozen meters into the air as Star Force-pushed him off of her.

"AHHHHH!" Marco screamed as he arced through the air, his weapon switching off. Janna laughed hysterically.

Star quickly sat up, letting her lightsaber extinguish as she stretched out her hand and focused on Marco with the Force. She caught him upside down, stopping his plummet back to Mewni just a few centimeters off the ground. "Let's just pretend you crashed into the ground really hard head-first!" she yelled to him from where she sat a dozen yards away.

"Huh?!"

She dropped her connection to the Force and Marco unceremoniously fell to the ground on his back. "Ow."

Star hopped to her feet and launched herself into the air with the Force, aiming to land on top of Marco. "YAAAAAAA!" she war-cried, igniting her lightsaber again.

Marco gasped and rolled out of the way as Star's blade plunged into the ground where he had just been. He pushed himself up back to his feet and ignited his lightsaber, but found it swatted out of his hand by Star's blade. The blade went out again as it clattered to the ground and bounced away, but it never fully came to rest as it suddenly flew through the air and into Star's left hand, where the azure blade came back to life once again. She pointed both blades at Marco's neck and smiled mischievously.

"Gotcha!" She switched off both weapons and tossed Marco's new lightsaber back to him. "Yes! I win!"

"That was a dirty move," Marco groaned.

"So? You said get creative," she laughed. "I figured the last thing you would expect would be getting smooched mid-fight."

"Well...I mean...but you can't-"

Janna unexpectedly appeared behind Star. "Hey! A win is a win, no matter how you earn it!" She gave Star a high-five. "Good job, Star."

Marco scowled with annoyance.

* * *

The inquisitor arrived alone. The pair of stormtroopers saluted it.

_"Sir!"_

_"Sir!"_

The inquisitor waved away their formal greeting. It pointed to the stiff assassin droid leaning against the wall where the stormtroopers had propped it. "What's that?"

_"The droid we sliced."_

"And it's seen those two brats?"

_"It said they shopped here."_

"Who are they?"

_"It only referred to them as Captain Ordonia and Lucy."_

The inquisitor raised an eyebrow beneath its helmet. "'Captain' Ordonia? One of those kids refers to themself as 'Captain'?"

_"Unknown, sir."_

It pushed past them and stepped through the doorway, looking about the rusty walls of the small space. "What is this? This is just an empty room."

_"We're not sure, sir."_

Noticing the keypad on the wall, the inquisitor reached out with the Force, feeling the space. The stormtroopers watched as it lifted its hand toward the rear wall, and suddenly, with a screeching groan, the wall was gone, bent in half and blasted out of its track.

_"Whoa," _they both marveled, but they quickly forgot about the inquisitor's demonstration of power when they noticed the giant, brightly lit warehouse of parts revealed by the destroyed door.

"Well, well, well..." The inquisitor stepped slowly forward, observing the aisles packed to the gills with starship parts. "Looks like someone was buying parts to fix their YV-560 freighter." It stalked down the center aisle with purpose. "Let's find the purveyor of this establishment."

* * *

"Concentrate...feel the Force flowing between you, and direct it toward your target."

Star and Marco sat side-by-side, facing Glossaryck, their eyes closed. Between the two Padawans and the Force-guru was a large rock, short, but about as wide as King River. They each held one hand aloft, outstretched toward the chunk of hardened sediment, focusing hard.

"Concentrate..."

"Glossaryck, you saying 'concentrate' over and over makes it really hard to concentrate," Star said, her eyes still closed.

"Well, excuse me for trying to be helpful."

The Padawans continued their attempt to collectively focus on the rock. They strained to the point of fatigue, their bodies trembling.

But when they finally dropped their hands and broke their connection to the Force, the rock still had not moved.

"That's disappointing," Marco muttered.

"Rrrragh," Star growled in frustration, "Why can't we move it? I could easily move it on my own!" She held her hand up and focused on the rock, and the rock floated easily up off the ground about a meter before she let it fall back to the ground. "Why is it so much harder trying to move it together?!"

Glosssryck scratched his chin. "I believe your opposing powers are canceling out instead of creating balance because your 'singularities' are not 'cleaved'."

Marco rolled his eyes. "If only we knew what that actually meant."

"Yeah, where's the instruction manual for this prophecy?" Star asked.

Glossaryck sighed in exasperation.

* * *

_"There is an unauthorized entrant at the main customer vestibule,"_ a cheerful voice announced via a speaker system in the ceiling. _"Please remove them from the Reflectacorp Showroom."_

This was enough to stop the inquisitor in its tracks, wondering what in the galaxy "Reflectacorp" was and why the announcer seemed so happy about the intrusion.

It didn't have very long to wonder about it, though. A pair of assassin droids were hurrying toward it from opposite sides, each carrying a disintegration rifle.

_"Inquisitor!"_ yelled one of the stormtroopers. _"Incoming hostiles!" _The inquisitor stood perfectly still as the assassin droids came to rest, one on the left and one on the right, aiming their rifles at it. "Please exit the building immediately and relinquish any and all Reflectacorp property," demanded the droid on the right.

The inquisitor leaned slightly toward the droid. "No."

"Then prepare for extermination."

The droids lifted the sights of their rifles up to their photoreceptors. Just before they fired, the inquisitor leapt into the air, propelled by the Force, and the disintegration rounds flew past each other. The pair of assassin droids were each struck by the other's shot, and in just a second, both droids had completely vanished, reduced to tiny piles of ash.

The inquisitor landed gracefully, almost completely without noise. "C'mon, you two," it barked at the stormtroopers still gawking from where they stood in the doorway.

_"Wow," _one trooper said as they cautiously followed. _  
_

_"Yeah. Wow."_

* * *

"Alright, no tricks this time," Marco said. "You've improved so much, I know you can out-duel me without trickery."

Star's face was illuminated by the green glow of her blade as it ignited. The Mewni sun was sinking toward the horizon, and night was fast approaching. PY-HD had summoned Tom and Janna to Skywynne Airbase, telling them that the repairs to the _Raventalon _were complete, so this time the Padawans dueled without an audience.

Star assumed ready position, signaling that she was ready to begin, but remained silent. Marco's azure bladed-lightsaber sprang to life in his hand, adding to the colorful luminescence surrounding them, and he took his own fighting stance.

They faced each other down, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Star decided to initiate this time, and started to swing her blade at Marco. He brought his own sword up to block-

"You two don't mind if I observe, do you?"

Startled by the sudden voice, they both dropped their fighting stances and found Glossaryck floating toward them, holding a small container nearly the size of his body between his six-fingered hands.

Star raised an eyebrow. "Um...why?"

"A Jedi is very attuned to the Force while engaged in lightsaber combat," Glossaryck said. They waited for the little blue man to continue his explanation, but he offered no more, settling down on a nearby log.

"Um...I guess I don't mind," Marco said. "Star?"

"I, uh, guess it doesn't matter." She resumed her ready stance, trying her best to ignore the intruder. "Come on, Marco, let's go."

Marco raised his own blade, and they repeated their waiting game. Just as Marco was about to make the first move, he was distracted by the sound of foil being noisily removed from something. They both looked at Glossaryck again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that distract you?" He held up the container, the top now open. "I was just opening my pudding cup. Can't analyze a lightsaber duel without pudding, now, can you?"

Star groaned softly and they took their stances for a third time. Star struck almost right away this time, but did not manage to take Marco by surprise. He blocked easily and returned the strike, and back and forth the battle commenced.

Glossaryck calmly watched as their blades twirled and crashed, slowly shoveling globs of pudding into his mouth with his bare hands.

Several minutes passed, neither combatant gaining any kind of advantage. One particularly violent clash of the lightsabers sent Star and Marco both stumbling backwards a step, and they paused to catch their breath.

"Hey, Star?"

She was surprised to hear Glossaryck calling out to her again. "What?"

"You're fighting with your eyes too much."

"Huh?"

"Give yourself to the Force, let it guide your hand, and, by extension, your blade."

"Uh..." Star looked at the lightsaber in her hand, then back at Glossaryck again. "How do I do that?"

Glossaryck set down his pudding and floated up into the air, eye level with Star. "You have to let go of your emotions. You fight with confidence, but you duel with anxiety. You've got to release your fears and _really_ let the Force fllllllloooooowwwww. Feel it in here." He patted his belly. Then he lay his hand over his chest. "And in here. It's already there, waaaaaay down deep inside you. Energy, brimming with anticipation. Reach down in there and bring it up."

"It kinda sounds like you're asking her vomit," Marco said slowly.

"Quiet, Boy. Bring that Force energy up from within and let it flow throughout your body, up your fingers to that crystal in your lightsaber. Trust in it, and it will move you." He smiled at her. "Get it?"

"...no."

Glossaryck's excited expression vanished. "You gotta dip-down, Star. You know? Dip-down? Figuratively grab ahold of all the Force energy inside you and let it flow out?"

"Um...okay...I'll try."

Star closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it deep in her lungs before slowly exhaling. Marco watched her with interest. She repeated her deep breath again, and then suddenly sprang at Marco, lightsaber flashing.

"Whoa!" Marco yelped, throwing up a panicked block.

Star's rapid attacks continued, barely giving Marco a chance to return with any of his own. Her movements became more fluid, each stroke of her emerald blade flowing perfectly and gracefully into the next one, and the one after that. Marco no longer felt like he was dueling Star; instead, he was reminded of the first few times he battled Kit Fisto, barely able to keep up.

And then suddenly, the fight was over. Three successive very powerful attacks at odd angles caused Marco to throw difficult blocks that loosened his grip, and the fourth sent his new lightsaber flying from his hand, extinguishing as it clattered to the ground.

Star blinked in surprise as she let her fingers slip from her lightsaber's activation plate.

"Wow, Star!" Marco exclaimed. "That was incredible!"

Her elation came on slowly, but grew rapidly. "...Yeah, it was! I beat you fair and square!" She punched the air a few times. "Woo! I! Am! Amazing!" Then, with equal enthusiasm: "Can either of you explain to me how I did that? I feel like I just blacked out and I'm not really sure what just happened!"

Marco put his hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what happened, either. You were, like, a machine! I wish you knew what happened so you could teach me to do that, too!"

Star smiled. "Well, you taught me a lot." She wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you, Marco."

He happily hugged her back. "You're welcome, Star."

Glossaryck watched their lengthy embrace, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Hmmm..."

* * *

More assassin droids came, rushing down the aisle. The inquisitor ignited its twin crimson lightsabers as it charged forward. The first few blaster bolts it deflected as it ran, then tossed one sword forward, letting it spiral through the air until it impaled one droid's torso. Blocking shots with its remaining blade, the inquisitor continued to sprint forward, jumped into the air, and came down with a slashing blow that decapitated the nearest droid's head. It sliced its way through the pack of assassin droids until it reached the now toppled over one with its red lightsaber still sticking out of its chest. The inquisitor called it to its free hand with the Force, causing it to shred through the droid as it rose into its hand.

Only one droid remained, and the inquisitor diced it up with three quick motions: one severed the barrel of its blaster in half, the next removed the droid's arms from its body, and the last bisected the droid diagonally across its body. The pieces clattered to the floor, and the inquisitor extinguished its lightsabers as it calmly stepped over the broken droids.

The two stormtroopers behind it stared. They hadn't even been given the opportunity to fire a single shot.

* * *

Star let out a tired sigh, and Marco put his arm around her. They sat together on a bench in the courtyard behind Butterfly Castle, watching the sun slowly sinking in the evening sky.

"Ugh," Star groaned, resting her head on Marco's shoulder. "This is exhausting, all this training."

"I sure wish we knew what we were supposed to be doing," Marco said, slowly rubbing Star's arm as she nestled into his side. "When the guy trying to teach you isn't even sure what he's supposed to be teaching you, it's really hard."

"I know, right?!"

"Well, let's just forget about it for a little while, really clear our minds for a bit." Marco jostled her arm affectionately. "Tomorrow's another day."

"Tomorrow..." Star closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Sometimes...when we're together like this...you know, when no one is trying to kill us or anything...I wish the moment would never end...and tomorrow would never come."

Marco let out a deep breath. "Yeah...I know what you mean." He looked out at the orange ball in the sky slowly making its way to the horizon. "You know, if only we'd left the Jedi Temple a day earlier..."

"I thought of that, too. I'm definitely sorry I didn't tell you I wanted to leave sooner." She opened her eyes and looked up at her best friend. "Can we just, like, not even talk...about anything...for a little bit? And just sit here together?"

Marco smiled. "Of course, Star."

She wrapped her arms around him as best she could and nestled her head into the space beneath Marco's jaw, closing her eyes once more. Marco pushed Star's pointy headband off of her hair and leaned his head over on hers, pulling her closer.

And as they sat there together, both Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz let all of their feelings, worries, anxieties, fears, and distraction slip away, without even realizing it. As far as they were concerned, the rest of the galaxy no longer existed. It was just the two of them, breathing steadily in unison and holding onto each other, and that was all that mattered.

And as Glossaryck spied on them from a nearby shrub, he noticed that the hearts on Star's cheeks were glowing. A matched set of previously invisible crescents on Marco's face were emitting a soft light, as well.

_Hmmm...now there's something you don't see...ever._

And Glossaryck suddenly understood.

* * *

C-HRS3 watched from the counter as more Reflectacorp assassin droids disappeared down the center aisle into a cacophony of blaster fire and humming of lightsaber blades. As the very last assassin droid protector of the Reflectacorp showroom headed into the fray, the C-HRS3 would have been very nervous...had anxiety been incorporated into its AI programming.

A few seconds later, the smashed body of that same last assassin droid came sliding out from the end of the isle, followed by the inquisitor stalking toward the front counter with a pair of stormtroopers in tow.

"It appears that I am Reflectacorp's last line of defense." C-HRS3 reached beneath the counter and snatched up a Dressellian projectile rifle, taking quick aim and firing at the intruder.

The inquisitor could not deflect the slug fired by the projectile rifle, but it could block it with its lightsabers, which it did. The protocol droid fired shot after shot as the inquisitor deliberately made its way to the counter. It slashed the droid's arms off with a stroke of its crimson blades and the trisected slugthrower rifle clattered to the floor.

"You have destroyed a great deal of Reflectacorp property," C-HRS3 said cheerfully, still completely unphased. "You will be billed for-" The droid suddenly flew across the counter, it's face dragged directly into the inquisitor's open hand by the Force. "I'm sorry, but this type of behavior is not permitted-"

"Shut it, droid! Trooper!" the inquisitor barked.

_"Yes, sir!" _both stormtroopers replied. _  
_

"Bring the holo!"

The trooper with the holoviewer came to the inquisitor's side, holding the hologram of Tom and Janna up before C-HRS3's photoreceptors. "Talk, droid! Where are these two?"

"Reflectacorp's privacy policy prohibits me from divulging information about our customers," C-HRS3 happily informed the hunter.

"I hate droids so much." The inquisitor looked toward the second stormtrooper. "Slice it. Now."

_"Right away, sir." _

As the trooper began prying open the back of C-HRS3's head, the purple protocol droid, still speaking in the jauntiest of tones, said, "Tampering with Reflectacorp employees is punishable by-"

_"Oh, please shut up,"_ the stormtrooper muttered, and as he jacked into the droid's central processor, C-HRS3 fell silent.

* * *

Marco was preparing to climb into bed when his ears picked up the sound of someone crawling through the ventilation ducts. He smiled.

_Here she comes. _

A moment later, Star gracefully hopped from the vent, sticking the landing beside the bed in Marco's guest room. She wore a magenta nightgown that had been provided by Sir Lavabo and lacked the horn headband which had become a permanent mainstay of her everyday garb.

"Hey, Marco!" she greeted with hushed excitement.

"Let me guess," he said with a knowing smile, "You want to stay with me again tonight?"

She sauntered up to him and teasingly tickled his chin. "What was your first clue? The fact that I am clearly all ready for dreamland, or that I've been sneaking in here every night for over a week?" She looked at him with false sad eyes. "I hope you aren't growing tired of me."

Marco laughed and wrapped her in a hug. "I could never get tired of spending time with my best friend."

"Dawwww..."

"Heyohhhhh!"

Star and Marco about jumped out of their skins at the sound of the voice in their ears and found Glossaryck hovering right beside them.

"Glossaryck!" Star exclaimed, forgetting to be quiet. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Well, you know, I had an idea how you two might be able to 'cleave' yourselves and I honestly just couldn't contain my excitement!" He gave a chuckle. "Also, it's really fun to sneak up on you."

"You and Janna must be from the same cut of cloth," Marco huffed.

Star put a hand to her temple. "Couldn't this have waited until morning?"

"Nope! Now come on!" Glossaryck snapped his fingers and the next thing Star and Marco knew, they were standing in the forest beyond the castle grounds.

"What the-?!" Marco exclaimed. "How did we get here?"

Glossaryck casually waved his hand. "I just transported you with magick. Pretty cool, huh?"

Star raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, it totally was. But I'd really rather not be transported without a heads up again."

"I'm not going to agree to that. Anyway, sit! Sit! We haven't got all night!"

Star and Marco glanced at each other. Star shrugged. They both sat down cross-legged on the grass.

"Comfortable?" Glossaryck asked.

"Not particularly," Star replied.

"Well, then get comfortable! Pretend I wasn't here right now, how would you two sit together?"

"If you weren't here right now, we would be snuggling in bed," Marco quipped.

The little blue man gave an exasperated sigh. "Just...please? Okay?"

Star slid over closer to Marco, letting her legs splay out to the side. "Hey, Glossaryck wants us to pretend he isn't here, so let's do that." She pulled Marco's arm around her and nestled into his side, resting her head on his chest.

Marco frowned at Glossaryck. "Um...why are we doing this?"

"You ever notice the hearts on Star's cheeks?" Glossaryck asked.

"...kinda hard not to?"

"Did you know you have crescent moons on your own cheeks?"

"What? No I don't!"

Star briefly opened her eyes. "I can confirm that is true," she said sarcastically. "I have spent quite a bit of time in very close proximity to Marco's face recently. No crescent moons."

Glossaryck shook his head. "No, they're there, alright. You just can't see them. Until, they start to glow, that is."

Star let go of Marco and sat up. Both Padawans stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Say what now?" they chorused.

"Oh, yes, I saw it for myself with my own eyes earlier when you two were all snuggled up on the bench in the courtyard."

"You were spying on us?" Marco cried. Star was less concerned about that part of the information, asking, "Our cheeks were glowing?"

"Yes! And I believe that was an indication that your, as the prophecy said, 'singularities were cleaved.'"

Star and Marco met each other's gaze again. "Huh..."

Marco considered their earlier cuddle session on the bench. "Well, I...did feel really close to you..."

"So did I. Think we can do that again? You know, on purpose? And then also be able to focus on something at the same time and be able to use the Force on it?"

Marco gave her a sly smile. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

Star gave a single, confident nod. "Let's give it a whirl! C'mere, you!" And she roughly clamped her arms around Marco once more. He put his arm around her and leaned his head over on hers.

Glossaryck nodded. "Excellent. Let the love flow through you," he said teasingly. "Now, once you reach the point of being 'cleaved' it may be difficult to perceive anything around you without interrupting your conjoined state. So, once you're ready, try to use the Force on, uh..." He glanced around and spotted the trunk of a long fallen tree, which he levitated over closer with the Force, setting it carefully on the ground between himself and the Padawans. "...This log!"

"What do you want us to do with it?" Marco asked.

Glossaryck shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Whatever you feel. Just do something."

"You got it!" Star said, rubbing her cheek against Marco's shoulder.

* * *

_"Ready, sir." _

The trooper roughly let the droid fall down to the counter and backed away, giving the inquisitor room.

"Where is Captain Ordonia?"

"I am afraid I have no idea who you are referring to," C-HRS3 replied, it's tone still as cheerful as ever.

The inquisitor held out its hand and ripped the holoviewer from the other stormtrooper's palm with the Force, shoving it roughly in front of the purple protocol droid's photoreceptors. "These two! I know they were here!"

"Oh! You refer to Han's friends!"

"Who the heck is Han? 'Han' what?"

"...data file incomplete."

"Whatever! What business did they have here?"

"They purchased new components for their YV-560 light freighter," said the droid. "Sublight thruster, starboard side, direct factory replacement, part number M-dash-six-six-zero-zero-dash-five-"

"Shut up!" the inquisitor yelled. "Where did they go?"

"To get their ship."

"From?

"Wherever they parked it."

"Which was-?" The inquisitor's patience was wearing thin.

"I regret to inform you that I do not know that information."

The inquisitor was growing increasingly angry. "Forget it. Where were they going?"

"Reflectacorp policy dictates that employees do not ask questions that are unnecessary in order to perform parts sales transactions."

The inquisitor groaned and looked at the stormtrooper that was still observing the droid's memories on his connected datapad. "This is infuriating," it said.

_"Sir, this droid's audio memories can be played back," _said the trooper. _"We could listen to the entire interaction with the fugitives and see if they said any useful information."_

The inquisitor slammed the holoviewer down on the counter hard enough to crack the projection lens. "What are you waiting for? Do it!"

_"Yes, sir! Just give me a moment to locate the exact conversation..."_

* * *

"I don't feel anything," Star said. "How are we supposed to do this if we aren't even sure what we did before?"

"Just relax," Glossaryck told her. "And don't actually _do_ anything. If you want to know what you did before...that's it, kid. You did nothing."

Marco lowered his eyes. "Kinda hard to relax when we're trying to do nothing to do something."

"I know. But you'll get it!" Glossaryck said encouragingly. "Just empty your minds of all inhibitions. Your fears, your worries, everything. Let it all go, except for each other."

"Alright," Star said. "We'll try."

The pair settled in again, attempting to forget that Glossaryck was watching them. Star and Marco breathed together in tandem, slowly, attempting to forget the galaxy they were sitting in.

Star found it hard to quiet her mind, especially when she began dozing off and had to fight to stay awake.

_Ugh. Forget it. I might as well stop fighting it and just go to sleep. _

So, she did, as did Marco. They fought against the beckoning call of sleep no more.

But that was exactly what they needed to do.

There was no galaxy, no fear, no anxiety, no war, no Empire, no darkness, no light, no Force. Just each other, each a cuddly, loving pillow for the other to hold onto. And right on the edge of sleep...

"Pssst...Star...Marco...look."

The soft beckoning of their teacher's voice drew the Padawans back from the precipice of sleep. Slowly, their eyes opened once more, and they both stared in wonder as their gaze fell upon each other's face. The heart-shaped marks on Star's cheeks were glowing with pure, white light, and the invisible crescents on Marco's face did the same.

"Whoa..." Star said softly, almost afraid to move for fear she might break the connection.

"Weird..." Marco mused. "Star, the log."

"Huh? Oh! Right!"

With painstakingly slow and cautious movement, the two Padawans held out their hands toward the large fallen tree trunk. Glossaryck watched with bated excitement. Together, they gathered their focus on the log, and it quickly lifted off the ground with surprising ease.

"Yes!" Glossaryck cried, trying not to startle them out of their concentration.

* * *

_"Okay, here we go."_

The stormtrooper pressed a command key on his datapad and the recorded audio of the fugitive's visit to Refelectacorp played back through the datapad's speaker.

_"Hey, Seahorse,"_ said a voice none of them recognized,_ "My friends here are looking for some rather rare parts. YV-class, model 560. Is there a variation? Like the YT's have?"_

_"I didn't think the YV's ever had variations." _The inquisitor knew that voice belonged to the girl she had dueled on the train. _  
_

_"You are correct. I will search Reflectacorp's extensive catalog for available YV-560 parts." _There was a long period of dead air, interrupted by an astromech bleeping something in the background. _"The Reflectacorp catalog is currently showing six hundred and thirty-two individual components in stock-"_

"Fast forward!" barked the inquisitor, "Before I go mad listening to this thing ramble. Or better yet, just listen yourself until you hear something useful."

The stormtrooper looked down at the motionless droid. _"Um...okay. Right away, sir."_

* * *

Glossaryck watched the large log floating above his head. "Wonderful, kids! You're able to use the Force together! Very impressive."

Star and Marco did not answer, worried that they would interrupt their connection. Glossaryck closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, feeling the presence of the two Padawans before him.

"Yes...the energy between you two indeed seems to be in perfect balance." He opened his eyes again. "If you can, try some other Force ability. See if it is more powerful than either of you could be on your own."

"Let's see how high we can launch it," Star said matter-of-factly.

Marco nodded. "Okay. Count it down." Both spoke quietly, still hoping to keep their concentration. They guided the floating log directly above their heads.

"Right. On three," Star said. "One...two...three!"

They enacted a Force-push on the log, straight upwards. The log shot into the air like a projectile from a canon and, in a split second, disappeared into the clouds high above.

Star and Marco's cheeks stopped glowing as they stared in disbelief.

"Whoa," Star murmured.

"'Whoa' indeed," Glossaryck concurred, his eyes still on the sky where the log had vanished. "That was even more powerful than I was expec-"

A noise interrupted his train of thought, and when he looked to see what it was, he found Star and Marco lying sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, having fainted. His eyes widened. "Okay. Wasn't expecting that, either!"

* * *

The stormtrooper looked up at the inquisitor. _"Sir...I think I found something."_

"Play it."

The trooper tapped a few buttons on the datapad, changing the output from his helmet commlink to the datapad's speaker and pressed play.

_"Um...how in the galaxy are we gonna get this thing back to the ship?" _That was the demonicite's voice. _"We can't bring that on the subway!"_

_"Reflectacorp has complementary component transportation service!" _The droid informed them.

Then the girl. _"You're really gonna transport this stuff all the way back to Mewni for us?"_

Behind its mask, the inquisitor's eyes widened. _  
_

_"Oh, no, you misunderstand. Allow me to-"_

"THEY'RE ON MEWNI?!" roared the inquisitor over the recording playback. It grabbed the C-HRS3 by the faceplate and swung the protocol droid up over her head, the jack cable yanking the datapad from the stormtrooper's hands. It smashed the droid into the duracrete floor with enough force to shatter what remained of the purple body, the still-connected datapad clattering to the floor beside it, the screen pulverized. "They pulled my monitoring squad out of the system, those brats probably snuck in right after they left! IDIOTS!"

The stormtroopers exchanged a nervous glance, afraid to even speak.

The inquisitor activated its commlink as it began sprinting back toward the exit. The stormtroopers hurried after it, quickly falling far behind. "Rosado! Order everyone back to the ship right now! Butterfly and Diaz are on Mewni!" The inquisitor stopped briefly as it reached the Reflectacorp security vestibule, its voice suddenly falling gravely low. "And this time, I'm calling for reinforcements. I will not allow those two to slip through my fingers again. As soon as you reach the ship, contact Lord Vader. I will speak with him when I arrive."

**Next: ?**


	34. The Invasion of Mewni

**It's July 11th, 2020. One year ago today, I posted the first chapter of this ambitious project of mine. For those of you who have stuck with me all this time, I thank you ever so much for reading. **

Security Officer Rosado took a deep breath. The frequency was set, all he had to do was push the button.

He really, really did not want to push that button.

_Please don't let this end with me being Force-choked to death..._

Almost completely unaware of his own action, he sent the call. A few moments later, his transmission was received and the holoprojector illuminated, the vaguely transparent blue image of a female Imperial Officer, a dark-skinned female with short, black hair beneath her gray cap, floating in the air before him.

_"Security Officer Rosado. How may I help you?"_

Rosado swallowed nervously. "My associate, Inquisitor, um..." He blinked, suddenly realizing that he had no idea what the Inquisitor's name was. "...The inquisitor asked me to make contact with Lord Vader. It is of utmost importance."

The Officer looked at him questioningly. _"And where is the inquisitor, exactly?"_

"En route. Should be here shortly." He looked away from the holo slightly, muttering, "I hope," to himself.

_"Mhm." _The officer looked less than impressed. _"I will alert Lord Vader."_

Rosado gulped. "Ah...Thank you." _Please hurry up, Inquisitor. Don't make me have to talk to Vader alone._

The image of the Officer disappeared, the holoprojector showing nothing but a blank glow. No more than ten seconds passed before the image of Darth Vader, about half his real life size in the _Mentis Mal_'s holo but somehow just as intimidating, appeared before him. Rosado jumped, not expecting Vader so quickly.

_"Security Officer Rosado," _Vader droned. _"What business have you?"_

"I-I-I, uh, Lord Vader! Um, t-the inquisitor asked me to make contact with you, sir."

_"And where exactly is the inquisitor?"_

"Returning from...from, uh..."

"I'm right here." The altered voice of the inquisitor was accompanied by heavy footfalls as the Jedi hunter stormed its way onto the bridge of the _Mentis Mal_.

Rosado breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took a step back to make way for the inquisitor and hopefully place himself out of Vader's sightline. _Oh, thank heavens._

"Lord Vader, the Padawans are on Mewni, Butterfly's home world," the inquisitor practically yelled. "I am not about to give them the chance to escape me again."

Vader remained silent for a moment, as if considering the inquisitor's words. _"What is it that you recommend?"_

"A full-scale invasion of the planet. We'll trap those little nerf-herders before they can flee again, and show those lousy Mewmans what happens when you cross the Empire."

_"Indeed. The citizens of Mewni must pay for their insolence. I will dispatch a Destroyer there immediately."_

"Excellent. Have the Destroyer send coordinates for a rendezvous point."

_"The invasion force will be instructed to attack as soon as they arrive, inquisitor. As you said yourself, Diaz and Butterfly must not be given a chance to escape."_

Behind its mask, the inquisitor's eyes widened in shock. "But Lord Vader-!"

The holotransmission abruptly ended, the signal cut. The inquisitor saw red, seething with anger. _This is my mission, I've been doing all the dirty work. I should be the one who gets the satisfaction of destroying those little pests! ME!_

Rosado saw the inquisitor's gloved hands tightening into fists, the leather material groaning as it was ground against itself. "Um...inquisitor?"

"Get this ship in the air, Rosado. Get us to Mewni as fast as this bucket will go." It turned toward him. "NOW!"

"Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

* * *

When Star awoke, a mild but very aggravating headache radiated from her temples and across the back of her head. Realizing she was inexplicably back in her bedroom, she sat up slowly, wondering how she had ended up there.

And, as she looked around the room and her eyes fell on Marco still sleeping soundly beneath the covers beside her, she wondered how he had ended up there, too.

"Marco?" she softly groaned, gently shaking him by the shoulder. "Marco, wake up."

He moaned as he opened his eyes and rolled over to face her. "Star?" He touched his hand to his temple, wincing. "Oh, I have such a headache." He abruptly removed his hand from his head and cautiously sat up. "Hang on...how did I get here?"

"I have no idea. I remember being out in the forest with Glossaryck last night, and...I remember we were using the Force together. Your cheeks had cute little crescent moons on them, and they were glowing."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that. Your hearts were glowing, too."

"We threw a log suuuuper high...I think. And that's all I remember."

"I don't remember anything else, either. I definitely don't remember us coming back here and getting into your bed." The color suddenly drained from Marco face. "Ohmygosh. Did we...?"

Star's eyes went wide. They lifted up the covers and were relieved to see that they were both still fully dressed.

"Oh, thank Mewni," Star breathed as Marco let out a long whoosh of air from his lungs. "That still doesn't answer how we got back here, though."

A cloud of green, glowing mist suddenly appeared across the room and Glossaryck manifested from the ether. "Oh, hey! You guys are awake!"

"Ohhhhhh," they chorused. That was part of the mystery solved. It was obvious that Glossaryck had put them to bed.

"Glossaryck," Star began slowly, "What happened last night?"

The little blue man hovered above the bed in front of them. "Well, you two were successful in cleaving yourselves in order to use the Force in tandem. Unfortunately, it seems that when you used the Force together like that, it literally drained the life out of you, enough so that you fainted. So I magicked you back here."

Marco shook his head in disbelief at what he was hearing. "It drained the life out of us?!"

"Oh, yes. Your life-forces began restoring themselves as soon as your connection to the Force was broken. I imagine that if you had used that power for too long...iiiiiiiiit probably would have killed you." Once again, a nervous expression was exchanged between the two Padawans. Glossaryck, on the other hand, did not seem particularly concerned. "I'm sure with practice, though, you could learn to use your powers without passing out."

"Oh, yeah..." Star said apprehensively. "That's...greaaaaat."

The Force-guru did not seem to notice Star's insincere tone. He was busy floating toward the door. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I believe I detect the alluring aroma of pancakes!"

When Glossaryck had gone again, Star turned to Marco beside her and he met her anxious gaze. "What are you thinking?" he asked.

Star's mind raced. Her dull headache sure didn't make straightening out her thoughts any easier. "Just wondering...if it's worth it," she said slowly.

Marco said nothing. He had been wondering that himself.

* * *

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!"

"OH, YES! GO, PILOT GIRL, GO!"

Despite the jubilant cries from the captain of the _Raventalon_ and her passenger, Tom was hanging onto the sides of the copilot seat with a white-knuckled grip, his teeth gritted and bared. He dared not touch the copilot control yoke as Janna juked and slung the YV-560 freighter through an asteroid field.

"Man, this thing feels like a brand new ship!" Janna yelled. "She's never handled this smooth!"

"Yeah, very smooth. Sooooo smooth," Tom squeaked through his clenched jaw as Janna banked the ship to starboard and narrowly missed a head-on collision with a massive chunk of space rock.

Buff Frog had come to Butterfly Castle the previous evening with PY-HD in tow, happily announcing to the teenage smugglers that the repairs to the _Raventalon _were complete. "Not just new hyperdrives and thruster installed," he had said through his thick accent. "We repaired everything!"

"Everything?" they asked.

"Everything! Leaking seals fixed, rebuilt compressor, aligned power converters, fixed landing gear...should be like brand new ship now! Aside from big hole you patched, which was beautifully repaired, by the way, everyone very impressed. We touched it up a little bit, though."

"Wow!" Tom exclaimed. "You didn't have to have your mechanics do all of that!"

The Mewni general waved off the demoncite's comment. "Is my pleasure. Cannot thank you enough for saving Princess."

"Thank you so much, Buff Frog," Janna said. "That was...incredibly kind of you." A strange feeling of warmth spread through Janna's heart. She wasn't used to people doing _anything _for her just out kindness, let alone something as generous and time consuming as revitalizing her whole ship.

Bright and early the following morning, before their friends awoke, the smugglers and their astromech returned to Skywynne Airbase. Buff Frog greeted them at the entrance and led them through the base. "Captain Ordonia," he said gallantly, opening the door from the main building to the landing pad and giving a flourishing gesture toward Janna and Tom's craft. "Your ship awaits."

From a distance, the _Raventalon_ looked largely the same. As they climbed aboard and walked through the cabin, however, Janna could see here and there where parts and pieces had been replaced and repairs had been made. In addition, the entire ship had been cleaned from top to bottom. In the years she had owned it, the old freighter had never looked so good.

She was awestruck.

"Wow, Buff Frog...this is..." Janna ran her fingers over the control panel in the cockpit, freshly polished by the Skywynne Airbase Staff. "...Amazing." She met the big frog man's eyes. "Thank you!"

"Absolutely no trouble at all." Then, his expression abruptly became hardened and serious. "I have one favor to ask in return."

Janna was taken slightly aback. "Uh, yeah, sure. Anything."

Buff Frog's serious face suddenly became jovial. "Will you take me for ride? Please please please?"

Tom and Janna laughed. The demonicite gave the General a slap on the back. "Of course! We gotta take the old bird on a test flight, don't we?"

Janna excitedly hopped into the pilot's seat. "What are we waiting for?" PY-HD bleeped a sarcastic answer to the rhetorical question, which Janna ignored. "Let's go!"

Now the General of the Mewni Militia was seated behind Captain Ordonia, watching through starry eyes as Janna wove her way through an asteroid field a few dozen parsecs from Mewni. He held his hands above his head, crying, "Wheeeee!" as if on an amusement ride while Janna rolled the _Raventalon _to starboard around yet another chunk of space rock.

As they cleared the outermost edge of the asteroid field, Janna briefly glanced at her copilot, the purplish complexion of the demonicite's face having turned nearly white as he clung to the sides of his seat.

"I think Demon Boy is not doing so well," Buff Frog whispered to Janna with a chuckle.

She grinned, feeling quite pleased with herself. "I know, isn't it great? I love scaring the poodoo out of him." Then, louder, "Alright, alright, I've had my fun. Let's head back to Mewni." She banked the ship in a wide arc, making the ship about-face.

Tom's grip on the seat slackened and he sucked in a deep breath, completely unaware that he had been holding his breath. "Oh. Good," he sighed.

Janna flicked a few switches on the control panel to prepare for the return trip.

"We'll use the backup hyperdrive on the return trip, make sure it works, too. Got our course programmed, Pony?"

The astromech bleeped an affirmative from it's terminal.

Still adhering to her personal rule of never averting her eyes from the forward viewscreen, Janna placed her hand on the pilot's hyperdrive lever. "Ready?"

A still quite tense Tom took hold of his designated control lever just beside Janna's. "Ready."

"Three, two, one, now," Janna counted down.

They pushed the levers forward and the stars stretched into streaks as the _Raventalon _jumped to lightspeed and into the swirls of hyperspace. Finally, Tom was able to gradually relax.

"Everything still green, Pony?" Tom asked once they were well underway.

The astromech replied that all systems were operating as intended. Janna removed her hands from the yoke and pumped her fist into the air. "Excellent! The _Raventalon _is officially back in action!" She looked back at Buff Frog. "All thanks to you and everyone on Mewni, General."

The frog man smiled. "You do not have to keep thanking me, Pilot Girl. Happy to be of help."

Janna turned halfway around in the pilot's chair, her features now turned somewhat somber. "Well...I guess now that the ship is fixed...we'll have to talk to Star and Marco..." Her voice trailed off.

Buff Frog raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

"Tom and I...have to get back to work," Janna said, her voice hesitant. "We have customers waiting for us. So we have to talk to them about..." She faced forward again. A deep sigh escaped her lungs. "...splitting up."

* * *

The door to the royal family's private dining room slid open to reveal a sleepy-eyed Eclipsa, still clad in her pink robe. She yawned as she stretched her arms lazily above her head. "Good morning, Sis. River," she greeted, taking a seat beside Moon. The King and Queen were already dressed in their usual royal attire, River reading the morning galactic news on his datapad, and Moon daintily sipping from a tiny teacup.

"Good morning, Eclipsa," Moon replied. A mumbled morning greeting drifted across the table from River, who was too engrossed in the news to look up at his sister-in-law.

The servants had been up at the appointed hour to cook breakfast and delivered a sizeable spread for the royal family and their five guests. The delicious scents of baked confections and warm breakfast meats wafted to the former senator's nose, and she inhaled deeply. "Mmmm...doesn't that smell delicious!" She quickly began helping herself from the serving dishes, filling her plate with an assortment of food.

Moon looked toward her sister happily helping herself to breakfast as if nothing were out of the ordinary. And nothing was...yet. But there was a very necessary conversation that needed to be had, an awkward one that Moon certainly was not looking forward to. She slowly set down her teacup. "Eclipsa? It's been a week since Thomas and Janna returned from Corellia. Now that they're back, I think it's time that...that we discuss safer living arrangements for you and the children."

Setting her full plate down, Eclipsa solemnly nodded. "I know. Truthfully, I've been avoiding bringing it up."

"So have I. I know Star and Marco have been receiving lessons from Glossaryck, that is the only reason I have put off bringing up the subject." Moon sighed. "But I'm afraid it simply cannot wait any longer. I do not wish to send them away, but I also cannot knowingly put our people in danger." She picked up her teacup once more and took a hesitant sip. "When Star and Marco come down for breakfast, we will discuss it wit-"

"Yum!"

The exclamation came from an abruptly present Glossaryck, the little blue man diving into the stack of pancakes on the table as if he were diving into a pool of water.

* * *

Marco having previously returned to his guest room so that they could each prepare for the day, the tension in the air was thick between the two Padawans as they reconvened. Neither wanted to discuss what Glossaryck had told them, Star especially. She didn't even want to _think_ about it, but thoughts of draining her own life-force as well as her best friend's while training to use a power she never asked for was all that swirled around her subconscious. And she wanted those thoughts _gone_.

"Heyyyy, Marco," she began as they headed for the dining room. "What do you say we head right on out to the woods for some more lightsaber practice?" she suggested, trying to sound enthusiastic instead of nervous.

Marco shrugged. "Sure, if that's what you want to do. We'll go out right after breakfast."

"Cool, cool, cool, but, hear me out, what do you say we skip breakfast, huh? Just...straight outside!"

That was a clear indication that something was bothering Star if there ever was one. Marco had never once known his best friend to turn down food, especially breakfast food. He could see the distress in her shimmering blue irises as they walked. Nothing much ever spooked Star, but right now, she was definitely not her usual cheerful self. He couldn't honestly say he blamed her. He knew exactly what was on her mind. If immediate lightsaber practice was what she wanted, then that was fine with him.

"Alright, Star. We'll go outside." He slid his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers.

She gave him a weak smile and squeezed his hand affectionately. "Thank you, Marco."

A faint growl came from somewhere nearby. Star raised an eyebrow, and Marco chuckled nervously. "Can we maybe just grab a piece of fruit or something for the walk? I am actually hungry."

That was enough to elicit a giggle from Star, and she bumped her shoulder against his. "Sure thing, Marco. Let's just make it really fast, okay?"

Marco nodded. "Sure. 'Fast' is my middle name!"

"I thought it was 'Ubaldo.'"

"...it is. I just...really, really hate that name."

* * *

Approaching footsteps reached the queen's ears. "Here come the children."

The door slid open and Star and Marco bounded inside, talking as fast as their mouths could form words.

"Good morning, Mom! Good morning, Dad! Good morning, Aunt Eclipsa!"

"Good morning, everyone!"

The pair each quickly snatched a jogan fruit from a plate on the table.

"Ah, Star, Marc-" Queen Moon began, but the Padawans were already whirling around and breaking for the door.

"Sorry, Mom! Can't stay to chat! Marco and I have a lot of training to do! Gottagobyyyye!"

"Star, wai-!"

And the door slid down closed again behind them, leaving Moon with her jaw hanging open, blinking in confusion.

Glossaryck chuckled through a mouthful of pancake. "Looks like they've got big plans."

Moon sighed and turned to Eclipsa. "Well, I suppose we'll try again at dinner."

* * *

The plasma blades of blue and green crashed and hummed as their wielders dueled yet again. Star was doing her best to clear her mind and give herself to the Force. In addition to improving her technique by letting the Force guide her lightsaber, it also kept her from having to think about whether or not she and Marco were unnecessarily risking their lives attempting to learn their newfound "Force-cleave" power.

Back and forth, alternating parries and blocks, minute after minute they dueled, their skills equalizing with each time they practiced.

A particularly violent clash of their blades sent both opponents staggering backwards, pausing their battle for a moment and allowing each combatant a chance to catch their breath. A faint but high-pitched rumble pricked at Star's ears. "Hey, Marco, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" he was expecting some kind of trash-talk, so he added some of his own. "Is it the sound of you about to get your butt kicked?"

"No, not that. It sounds like the _Raventalon._"

Their battle now forgotten, the Padawans scanned the heavens, spotting their friends' freighter descending from the clouds overhead. They waved their lightsabers back and forth skyward in greeting.

* * *

"Hey, look." Tom pointed below. "There's Star and Marco."

Janna and Buff Frog followed his indication and spotted the glowing emerald and azure blades of their friends waving to them from the ground below. The pair of young Jedi stood on the edge of a clearing in the forest just beyond the grounds of Butterfly Castle.

"Why not set down in field there?" Buff Frog suggested to the smuggler pilots. "I have meeting at castle with Queen and King soon, anyway. Closer than coming all the way from Airbase. There is even footpath from field right to castle."

"Why is there a footpath?" Tom asked.

"Is very nice picnic spot."

"Looks like a perfect landing field to me," Janna agreed, flipping switches to power down the space flight systems and prepare for landing. "Got the landing gear, Lucy?"

"Yup, I'm on it."

* * *

Star and Marco extinguished their lightsabers and slowly strolled toward the _Raventalon _as the freighter touched down on the opposite side of the clearing. Janna, Tom, PY-HD and Buff Frog met them at the bottom of the boarding ramp.

"Hey, guys! How was your test flight?" Star asked. "Everything all ship-shape or whatever?"

Janna nodded. "Oh, yeah. This baby is ready for anything now."

"Aw, yeah!" The princess turned her attention to the Mewni General. "Did you have a fun ride, Buff Frog?"

The frog man smiled. "Indeed! I had wonderful time! Thank you for ride, Pilot Girl and Demon Boy."

"The pleasure is all mine," Tom said. Captain Ordonia rolled her eyes and PY-HD bleeped sarcastically behind them. Tom thumbed a gesture at Janna. "No, it really wasn't. The pleasure was all hers," he said dryly.

Buff Frog laughed. "Now I must be off to castle for boring meeting with Queen and King."

The teenagers laughed and waved goodbye to Buff Frog as he walked away to the dirt path that led in the direction of Butterfly Castle.

"So," Tom began as he turned his attention back to the Padawans, "haven't gotten bored of lightsaber practice yet?"

Star looked down at the hilt in her hands, running her thumb along the edge of the wing-shaped blade guard. "Hehh ehh...nope. Not bored yet. Exactly."

Marco clipped his lightsaber back to his belt. "This morning it's more like a distraction."

Janna raised an eyebrow. "A distraction? A distraction from what?"

Star sighed. "From what happened last night."

PY-HD gave a whistle-bleep that translated as the completely serious question, "What happened? You guys do it?"

Star's cheeks turned redder than Tatooine's suns as she blushed furiously. Janna snickered. "Pony! No!" Star yelped. "We fainted while using the Force!"

"Yeah, Glossaryck said if we did that for too long we could have died!" Marco added. "Also, what did Pony Head say?"

The astromech whistled that that was boring and that they could have just lied and gone along with her suggestion. The droid's musings, as well as Marco's question, went ignored.

Tom shook his head, "Hang on, back up. You guys were using the Force and it almost killed you?"

Star groaned in frustration and recounted the entire story, finishing with Glossaryck's explanation to them that morning.

"So, what?" Janna asked. "Now you're wondering if you should use that power at all?"

Star nodded and slid her lightsaber back into her purple bag. "Is it a power worth learning to use if there's a good chance it will kill us?"

"Absolutely."

Three heads slowly turned toward Tom, who himself was surprised that everyone was staring at him as if he had four eyes.

Marco raised an eyebrow. "Um...what?"

Tom swallowed. "I mean...guys. There's an insane, super-powerful Sith Lord and his new crazy apprentice who just killed all the Jedi and took over the galaxy. If you've got a power that can defeat him, shouldn't you use it? You guys are Jedi, maybe the last ones. Isn't saving the day what Jedi do, even if it's potentially dangerous?"

Star and Marco looked at each other. In the span of only his last sentence, Tom had managed to make both of them feel guilty and selfish. Simultaneously, they took each other by the hand.

Tom went on. "I mean...I don't want to lose you guys, but..."

A defeated sigh escaped Star's lips. "I hate to say it, but you make a really, really good point, Tom." She looked to Marco. "I didn't want to get involved in any part of the Clone War, but this isn't war anymore. This is different."

Marco nodded. "Palpatine needs to be destroyed and you and I might just be the only ones who can defeat him."

"Yeah. Much as I hate to admit it...I may not exactly love being a Jedi, but if we're all that's left, it's our duty to do whatever we can to restore the Republic." She squeezed Marco's hand. "Even if that means sacrificing ourselves."

Janna clenched a fist, trying to force herself to decide whether or not the idea in her head was a smart one. _It isn't,_ she decided. _It's a dumb decision. But it's the right_ _one_. She moved slightly closer to her Padawan friends. "And we'll help you however we can. Right, Lucy?"

"I thought you said-"

"I never said anything." The stare she shot into his eyes was a hard one. Tom nodded, an almost imperceivably tiny movement, but Janna detected it and knew that he understood.

"Right," he said. "We'll be with you every step of the way. Together, we can take down that Sith Lord." He put his hand out flat, palm down. "Team?"

Without a lick of hesitation, Marco placed his hand on top of Tom's. "For the Jedi."

"For the galaxy," Star said, adding her hand to the pile.

Janna finished the stack with her own hand. "For some other third thing."

PY-HD tilted it's dome forward and touched it's horn to the side of the pile, beeping out, "For the pile of money those of us that survive will definitely get for killing a Sith Lord."

Star translated to Marco, and all four teenagers laughed, grinning confidence-laced smiles between themselves.

Suddenly, Star shrank back, a shiver convulsing through her body. She looked at her bare forearms and saw her skin dotted with goosebumps.

"Star?" Marco asked. "Are you okay?"

The princess rubbed her arms, her lower lip trembling slightly as if she were about to cry, eyes half closed as if wincing in pain. "I...I'm not sure...there's a weird disturbance in the Force. Something feels...wrong."

As the others looked toward the ailing Star, Tom glanced around. A strange chord was hanging the air that his friends hadn't seemed to notice. "Hey, does anyone else hear really ominous music?"

"Ahhh!" The abrupt cry of pain came from Star, who put a hand to her forehead as she sank to her knees. Marco quickly knelt beside her, taking hold of her upper arm to hold her upright as she swayed back and forth. "Marco! It's-!"

The words were cut off by a loud squeal from PY-HD. Turning their eyes upward, the group spotted what had caused the droid such distress:

The triangular hull of an Imperial Star Destroyer interrupted the tranquil mid-morning Mewnian sky, a myriad of landing craft already spewing from it's hanger.

Marco's mind whirled, his brain unable to form more than one coherent thought. "They found us," he said mournfully. "Come on, Star." With haste now of the utmost importance, Marco helped Star to her feet. "We've gotta get out of here."

The last word of his sentence was drowned out by the deafening _whoosh!_ of an Imperial landing craft zooming over their heads, heading in the direction of Butterfly Castle.

"My parents!" Star yelled. Without even a moment's hesitation, she took off at a dead run, the distraction eliminating her pain.

"Star!" Marco cried as he took off after her. "Wait!"

Janna and Tom followed after him. "Pony, stay with the ship!" Janna quickly told the astromech.

The droid squeaked in reply, watching it's organic companions sprint away toward the opposite side of the forest clearing, wondering if it would ever see them again.

* * *

Star ran with a singular purpose, not one rational thought crossing her mind. Her normally feather-light footfalls pounded the ground as she sprinted along the path through the woods, calling the Force to her muscles and lungs to retain her stamina as she raced toward the castle. At some point, her lightsaber found it's way back into her right hand.

The trees flew past as merely blurs. A massive fly-trap plant struck at her from the path's edge, but Star had already streaked past before it could close it's hinged leaves. She didn't even notice it.

It wasn't long before the forest vanished behind her. The massive silhouette of Butterfly Castle rose up before her, the open field of the castle grounds all that stood between her and home. Star poured on the speed, pumping her arms furiously as she sprinted across the open ground.

_Almost there...almost there...almo-_

A ripple in the Force alerted Star of impending danger. In a flash, the emerald blade of her lightsaber ignited and she deflected the red blaster bolt that had been fired at her. It ricocheted harmlessly off into the air. Her cross-country sprint now halted, she spotted the laser's origin: A dozen stormtroopers stood beside the landing craft that had passed overhead just a few minutes prior, parked just to the side the front castle gate off to her right.

_"Look! It's one of the Jedi!"_

_"Shoot to kill!"_

"Oh boy."

A barrage of blaster fire peppered the spot where Star stood, the young Padawan's lightsaber becoming a green blur as she shielded herself from the attack. The shots came far too quickly for her to deflect them back at the stormtroopers who fired them. Star was stuck, unable to advance and lacking cover to retreat to.

Several dozen meters behind her, Marco, Tom, and Janna emerged from the woods and spotted Star facing off against the squad of stormtroopers, overwhelmed by their fire.

"Star!" Marco cried. He snatched his lightsaber from his belt as he ran, the azure-colored blade hissing to life as he charged a direct route toward the stormtroopers. Janna and Tom drew their blasters, flanking Marco on either side. The smugglers fired upon the Imperial troops, managing to fell two of them before the trio was even spotted.

_"Over there! The other Jedi!"_

_"Blast 'em!"_

Half of the remaining stormtroopers turned their attention toward the teenaged cavalry charging up the hill, Marco deflecting the blaster bolts away from himself and his friends as Tom and Janna returned fire.

That was all the distraction Star needed. With the number of blaster shots directed at her cut in half, she sprinted forward, continuing to deflect the barrage away as she ran. When she was close enough, she jumped into the air with a boost from the Force, sailing high into the air and slashing her sword fiercely as she dropped back down again. She caught two stormtroopers with her first strike, the concern of ending lives by her hand that had once plagued her long forgotten. Spinning to the left, Star avoided another opponent's blaster before decapitating the stormtrooper with a flick of her wrist. The next shot that came her way was ricocheted back, and the trooper fell to his own blaster bolt. One more high slash took out the one last remaining stormtrooper, who fell over onto the pile of his fallen brothers. The rest had all been dispatched by Janna and Tom's blaster shots as they charged toward the castle with Marco.

Star let her finger slip from her lightsaber's activation plate as her trio of friends caught up with her. "C'mon! Hurry!" she cried as she took off running again.

"A 'thank you' for saving your skin would be nice," Marco muttered under his breath.

Janna gave him a shove to start the Padawan running again. "Not the time, Diaz. Move! Move! Move!"

* * *

Moon, River, and Eclipsa stared out the window of the Queen's office in Butterfly Castle's east tower, watching as more troop transports and fighters swarmed the air like angry hornets, several squadrons of stormtroopers amassing at the castle's front gate as the royal guards tried in vein to fend them off. Screams from the citizens below drifted up to the open window like the clouds of smoke beginning to rise from the nearest village. None spoke. All were at a loss for words, tears beginning to trickle down Moon's cheeks.

The office door slid open and Buff Frog bounded inside. "Is no good. They have us completely surrounded. And no sign of children."

"Actually, we're right here."

The four adults didn't even have a chance to react before the vent in the ceiling popped out and clattered to the floor below. Star hopped out, sticking a tight landing on the floor.

"STAR!"

The young Padawan suddenly found herself completely engulfed by four pairs of arms as her parents, aunt, and Buff Frog all rushed to hug her. "Uh...hey, guys."

"Oh, Star, we were so worried!" Eclipsa exclaimed as Tom attempted to climb from the air duct behind the ongoing group hug and landed flat on his face.

Moon gave Star a suffocating squeeze. "Thank goodness you're alright."

Janna, meanwhile, dropped down carefully from the ceiling, Marco bringing up the rear when the floor below him was clear.

"Sweetie, why did you come in through the ventilation ducts?" River asked.

"Because the castle is in lockdown mode and all the entrances are sealed. So I lightsabered my way though the exhaust vent by the kitchen."

River laughed. "Good thinking!"

The group hug finally broke apart. Being the natural born leader she was, Star immediately took charge of the situation. "Alright, we don't have much time. Marco and I have been trained for this. We'll lead the militia into battle and send those bucket-helmeted idiots back where they came from!"

Buff Frog looked down at the Queen and King, and was met with a pair of sorrowful eyes. He shook his head solemnly.

Star took no notice. "C'mon, Buff Frog. We gotta get to the rest of the troops at the Airbase!"

To Star, the Mewni General's entire body seemed to sink. She looked at him questioningly. "I am...sorry, Star Butterfly. Airbase is already overrun. Troops have scattered into forest. Even with two Jedi...I fear...Mewni is already lost."

Star felt as though a rock had fallen into the pit of her stomach. Marco watched his best friend's gleaming blue iris's grow two sizes as Star stared in disbelief. Buff Frog went on. "Is only matter of time before castle is captured, too."

"...But we...we can't just let the Empire take over Mewni!" Star protested. Her eyes found the window, spotting the swarm of ships, the flurry of blaster fire reverberating in her ears. "This...this is all my fault..." Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she watched the destruction unfold. She gripped her lightsaber tightly, anger quickly taking the place of the sorrow in her heart. She ignited the blade. "I'll take care of this. Marco and I will drive the Empire away, all by ourselves if we have to."

"Um, Star? Have you seen how many ships are out there?" Marco asked. "Even if we were Jedi Masters on Master Yoda's level we would never be able to take on a whole capital ship's worth of stormtroopers and fighters!"

"Fine. Then I'll do it myself." Star began to make for the door to leave the office, but Eclipsa stepped in front of her.

"Now hold on a moment! We don't know that the Empire is here for you two. Don't forget they were also hunting me."

"Eclipsa is right, Star," Moon cut in. "You don't know for sure that the Empire has discovered you and Marco are here. If they're here for Eclipsa, you kids can escape and the Empire will be none the wiser."

"Exactly." River placed a hand on Star's shoulder. "You and your friends must escape, immediately!"

"Me and...you mean...you're not coming with us?"

"We cannot abandon our people, Star," Moon said. "We must stay behind. It is our duty."

Star's hands curled into fists, and she brandished her still-ignited lightsaber. "Yeah? And I'm the Princess! I should stay, too!"

Moon knelt down before her daughter, gently cupping the Padawan's face in her hands. "Yes. You are the Princess. You are the rightful heir to the throne. Which means if something happens to your father and I...you _must_ still be alive to assume the throne and lead our people."

"Mom, I'm not going to leave you and Dad and Eclipsa here to die! I am going to_fight!"_

"There isn't time to argue about this, Star. You must leave now."

"I won't just-!"

"Star...?"

She slowly turned toward Marco, who was standing by the office window with Tom and Janna. All three were looking back at her with grave expressions. Her best friend spoke slowly and deliberately. "Star...we've already lost. There's a time to hold your ground and fight...and this is not that time."

"But-!"

Marco quickly strode over to her and took her free hand in his. "There aren't enough of us, Star. We need an army to drive them away. We'll come back, Star, when we can win. But right now...getting killed only means the Empire gets what they want."

Buff Frog cut in. "Listen to Saber Boy, Princess. He is right. People all across galaxy are terrified of Empire. No one going to come to free a world that is not theirs. If you do not leave, there will be no one to save Mewni."

The logic was lost on Star. She was too caught up in her emotions to comprehend just how dire the situation was. "None of you are listening to me. I. Am. Not. Leaving." She spun on her heel and quickly made for the door.

"Star!" everyone yelled after her.

"Buff Frog, stop her!" Eclipsa ordered.

The Mewni General crossed the room in a single leap from his powerful frog legs, vaulting over Star's head and landing between her and the door.

"Get out of my way, Buff Frog," Star snarled, brandishing her lightsaber at him.

The General took a hesitant step back. He didn't think the Princess would dare to hurt him with her sword, but then again, he had never seen such terrifying determined gleam in her eye.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wonder for long. Star let out a tiny, shocked cry of pain and her lightsaber clattered to the floor, extinguishing as it landed. Janna had rushed up behind her, grabbed Star's wrist, and skillfully squeezed a pressure point that caused the Padawan to drop her weapon. "Grab her, Buff Frog."

"Right!" The General did, quickly wrapping his muscular arms around Star, pinning her own arms down at her sides, and lifting her off the floor as if the teenager were a feather.

"Let go of me! Put me down!" she yelled as she struggled in vain against Buff Frog's tight grip.

Queen Moon and King River slowly stepped before her. "I'm sorry, Star," Moon said as tears streamed down her face. "I love you, Sweetie. Go. Now. You must leave."

"No! I won't leave!"

"Yes, you will." Moon shifted her sightline upward, locking a steely gaze on Buff Frog. "General Bulgolyubov, as Queen of Mewni, I am giving you a direct order of the highest priority." She saw him start to shift his right arm to salute her. "Don't you dare let go!" she put in quickly.

"Yes, your majesty!"

"I order you to escort my daughter and her friends to their ship. Keep them safe, and make sure they leave the planet. Do you understand?"

"NO!" Star yelled again.

The Mewni General gave a respectful nod in place of a bow so as not to unintentionally loosen his grip on Star. "Yes, your majesty. I understand."

Moon's attention turned back to her daughter. "Goodbye, Star. I love you." And she placed a gentle kiss on Star's forehead.

Star stopped struggling. She stared at her mother's tear soaked cheeks, tears of her own flowing once more.

The Queen stepped back and allowed her husband to say his own farewell. With moist eyes, he gently cupped Star's cheeks. "My brightest Star...I am so, so proud of you, as proud as any father in the galaxy could ever be." He kissed Star on the cheek. "I love you, Star. Goodbye."

He stepped back to let Eclipsa have a moment with her niece. As he did, he noticed Star's lightsaber on the floor and quickly snatched it up. He hurried over to Marco. "Marco, my boy. A word?"

The boy gulped down the emotional lump in his throat, a slight quiver in his voice as he asked, "Yes, King River?"

The King spoke in a hushed tone, making hard eye contact with Marco. "Star is a very skilled fighter, and she is more than capable of taking care of herself. That doesn't make a father worry any less about his only child." He paused. "I know that she cares for you as more than just a friend."

"You...you do?"

River nodded. "I do. I am King. A King knows things." He winked. "I know that she trusts you, and I know that you care for her. I am counting on you, my boy..." He held up Star's lightsaber in front of his face. "...to keep her safe."

For a moment, neither spoke. Marco slowly reached out and grasped Star's lightsaber, both men holding the weapon tightly. The Padawan nodded. "I love Star, your majesty. I will protect her with my life."

Wiping the tears from his eyes, River smiled at the young man across from him. "My daughter made a fine choice for a best friend." He let go of Star's lightsaber and let his hand fall to his side. "Good luck, Marco."

"Um, guys?" Tom called out, urgency in his voice. He was still standing beside the window. "I don't mean to rush anyone, but I think all the castle guards are dead and there's about sixty stormtroopers rushing the front gate!"

"Then it is time for you kids to leave," Moon commanded. She stalked quickly to the office door and pressed the activation panel to open it, motioning for the four teenagers to make all due haste. "Hurry! Down to the basement! Find Sir Lavabo, he will show you how to escape through the laundry drain tunnel. It empties out into the forest." Shutting her eyes, she looked away as she fought to restrain more tears, not able to bear seeing her daughter. "Go! Now!"

Star, who had been silent since her mother had kissed her forehead, immediately began to struggle again, no longer merely shouting. "No! NO! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Come on, Princess!" Buff Frog huffed, and he swung Star up over his left shoulder so that he could carry her and run more easily.

"I won't run! I won't leave you to die! NO!"

Buff Frog stepped out into the hallway, Janna and Tom followed.

"Captain Ordonia," Moon said. "Please get my daughter somewhere safe."

"You can count on us," Janna said. "Thank you, Queen Moon, for everything."

"You're welcome. Now go! Hurry!"

They hurried to join Buff Frog in the hallway.

Marco quickly hugged Eclipsa. "Thanks for being my family, Aunt Eclipsa."

She gave him a short but tight hug in return. "Take care of each other, Marco. You and Star are going to need you now more than ever."

"I know." Marco released the former Senator and ran out into the corridor. He turned around again, though, just long enough to say, "Your majesties...Senator...May the Force be with you."

And then he and the others took off down the hall toward the stairs, Star watching the corridor recede away from her over Buff Frog's shoulder, her angry screams fading into quiet tears as she realized that there was no longer anything she could do.

All was lost.

**Next: Escape From Butterfly Castle**

**And a new adversary rises...**


	35. Escape From Butterfly Castle

**I'm back! I had some terrible writer's block trying to figure out how best to continue the story four chapters from now, so I reread the entire story to refresh my memory and figure it out. It took awhile, but I've got it all straightened out now. I think. **

"Quickly now! And keep quiet!" Buff Frog urged the others in a loud whisper as he led them down out of the east tower of Butterfly Castle.

"No! Put me down!" Star angrily sobbed. "I'm not abandoning my family!"

"Star, please!" Marco pleaded in a loud whisper. "You're gonna give us away!"

"I don't care! I am going to fight! Put me down and give me back my lightsaber!"

Tom and Janna exchanged a concerned glance. "We're not gonna make it very far if Star doesn't stay quiet," Tom said.

Janna snapped her fingers. "Don't worry, I got this. Hey, Buff Frog? Can you kneel down for a second?"

"Um...sure?"

The towering Mewni General dropped to one knee, bringing Star down to level height with Janna. The Princess was continuously screaming and struggling so ferociously against Buff Frog's grip that she didn't even notice as Janna calmly reached up and squeezed a pressure point on Star's neck. The young Padawan instantly fell silent as she was knocked unconscious and went limp on Buff Frog's shoulder. Tom, Marco, and Buff Frog all stared in quiet disbelief.

"That oughta last long enough for us to make it out of the castle," Janna said nonchalantly. "C'mon, let's keep moving."

"Uh, yes. Right." Buff Frog got back to his feet and led the way, resuming their exodus from Butterfly Castle.

They made it down to the second floor without incident, making their way toward the main staircase when a loud explosion rocked the floor beneath them, freezing the group in their tracks.

"What the heck was that?" Tom asked.

"Imperials likely breached main entrance door with explosives," Buff Frog said. He quickly turned around and headed down the corridor in the opposite direction. "This way. We will take servant staircase down. Less conspicuous, and lets out into service area where entrance to basement is. Maybe Imperials not make it there before we do."

At the far end of the second floor corridor, Buff Frog tapped on a spot in the corner of the wood-paneled wall and a small hidden door popped open. Beyond was a narrow spiral staircase. Seeing the size of the tiny opening, Janna raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Buff Frog? Are you gonna fit through there?"

"Of course! Frog men are like cephalopods. If head fits, everything fits." He slung Star from his shoulder and cradled her in his arms so that the Princess would not hit her head before bending his knees and squeezing his broad shoulders through the tiny doorway. Had they not been in such a dire situation, Janna would have likely laughed at the way the General's skin wrinkled and rolled as Buff Frog squished his way down the staircase, filling the space from stair tread to ceiling. She followed close after, Tom on her heels, and Marco brought up the rear, closing the door behind him.

At the bottom of the tiny staircase, a second concealing doorway opened up into the corner of a ground floor corridor, much like the door they had entered at the top. Buff Frog checked to make sure there were no intruders in sight before fully opening the door and quietly whispering, "Coast is clear. Keep quiet."

They filed out of the tiny stairway, Buff Frog lifting Star's unconscious form up to his shoulder once more and Marco again closing the hidden doorway as he exited. The quartet moved along against the wall, treading on their toes to make as little noise as possible on the stone floor. When they reached the end of the hallway, Buff Frog signaled for them to halt. He carefully peered around the corner.

"See anything?" Janna asked.

"Yes. Many stormtroopers." The general pointed across the adjoining main hall where the entrance to another branching hallway was visible, the way blocked by at least two dozen stormtroopers systematically scouting the service floor. "Door to basement is over there."

Tom carefully edged past and looked around the corner himself. "That's an awful lot of troopers to shoot our way through. With no cover, there's no way all of us will make it."

Marco beckoned the others closer. "Okay, here's what we'll do. I'll go first as a diversion. They're obviously on the lookout for a pair of Jedi, so hopefully they'll all be so focused on trying to shoot me that they won't even see you guys sneak over to the other hallway. Once you've all made it across, I'll follow."

The others nodded. _  
_

"Time for a show," Marco whispered dramatically. His own lightsaber in his right hand and Star's in his left, he briskly walked out into the center of the hallway, turning to face the unwelcome guests. They spotted him immediately.

_"Hey! You there! Freeze!"_

_"Hands where I can see 'em!"_

Marco obeyed, holding up both hands. He ignited his weapons.

_"It's a Jedi!"_

_"Shoot to kill!"_

A hail of blaster fire peppered the corridor. Marco twirled on his feet, his blades at defensive angles, deflecting blaster bolts that came his way. He over exaggerated every movement of the glowing azure and emerald blades, attempting to make himself as distracting as possible and obscure the space behind him.

Buff Frog motioned for Tom and Janna to follow him. "Alright. Let's move."

Four steps was all they took. A loud voice echoing through the stone-walled corridor took them so much by surprise that they froze in their tracks.

"Those who dare to invade the sanctity of the Butterfly Castle will answer to the Knight of the Wash!"

Even the stormtroopers were taken so much by surprise that they ceased fire on Marco. From the adjoining corridor opposite the smugglers and their escort, the clank of full-body armor accompanying every step, emerged Sir Lavabo, carrying the largest rotary blaster canon Marco had ever seen. It was easily twice the size of the Z-6 rotary canon used by some Republic troops during the Clone War, with eight gapping barrels instead of six.

For a few seconds, the stormtroopers were so surprised by Lavabo's unexpected entrance that they simply stared at the knight and his hulking weapon, and Lavabo stared back, his expression hard.

And then...

_"Blast him, too!" _

The flurry of blaster fire resumed, red energy bolts tearing down the hallway toward both the young Jedi and the Knight of the Wash. Marco sprang back into action, now not only focusing on protecting himself but also Lavabo as the armored laundry knight opened fire with his rotary blaster canon. The massive weapon spat blue lasers so quickly that it easily equaled the volume of returned shots from the stormtroopers, and with far deadlier accuracy. One trooper fell, then two, then six, then ten. In less than a minute, Sir Lavabo's massive rotary blaster canon had laid waste to the entire squad of stormtroopers in the corridor.

"Wow!" Marco marveled as he extinguished the lightsabers. "That was amazing! I never would have expected you would be able to fight!"

Lavabo let the barrel of his heavy weapon rest on the floor, pressing his now free right hand to his heart. "Since time immemorial, the Knight of the Wash has been the last line of defense for the Royal Family, the most highly trained of the royal guards! Today, I must do my duty!"

Buff Frog quickly hurried over. "Strange Knight! We are needing your help!"

"I am afraid I cannot help you. I must protect the royal family!" Lavabo quickly hoisted up his canon once more and started to rush off down the corridor.

"Wait!" Tom yelped. "Come back!"

Janna added, "We need you!"

"I am sorry, my friends!" Lavabo called back. "I cannot abandon my sworn duty!"

"Uh! Th-that is what you're doing!" Marco yelled in a panic. "You are abandoning your duty!"

Lavabo froze. He slowly turned back, clearly confused by Marco's accusation. "You dare..." He said slowly, "question my honor?"

Marco quickly pointed to Star's unconscious form slung over Buff Frog's shoulder. "The Princess is right here. Queen Moon told us that the most important thing was that she escape."

"Saber Boy is right," Buff Frog confirmed, "The Queen directly ordered me to escort Star Butterfly and her friends to their ship."

Janna quickly added, "And she told us to find you so that you could lead us out through the laundry drain tunnel!"

Lavabo backtracked to where the others stood, his expression hard. "The Queen ordered this directly, you say?"

"Of highest priority, yes," Buff Frog said.

Lavabo considered this as he looked at the unconscious Princess.

"My duty can only be redirected by an order from the acting Queen herself, so...okay. I will help yo-"

His last word was cut off by a blaster bolt streaking past their heads and slamming into the wall. Everyone whipped around to see another squadron of stormtroopers traipsing down the main stairs into servants' tunnel.

_"There they are!"_

_"Get 'em!"_

In an instant, Marco's lightsabers hissed to life and he quickly placed himself between his friends and the invaders. "Go!" he yelled. "I'll cover you!"

The Imperial troops practically gushed from the stairs, a seemingly never ending flood of identical white helmeted soldiers spitting red lasers. As Buff Frog, Tom, and Janna sprinted toward the adjacent corridor, the Padawan and Knight of the Wash walked carefully backward, Lavabo laying down a spread of cover fire with his rotary canon while Marco deflected the incoming blaster bolts. Once they made it past the entryway of the adjoining corridor and were protected by the corner of the wall for a few precious seconds while the stormtroopers raced to catch up, they both deactivated their weapons and rushed for the basement door where their friends anxiously awaited them. Tom and Buff Frog stood well back several steps down to give Marco and Lavabo space to run through the doorway, but Janna squeezed herself into the corner beside the door. The instant the pair cleared the door frame, Janna slammed the activation panel to close the door, then quickly fired her DC-17 at the door control. The fried electronic panel effectively sealed the door closed. It was mere seconds before the sounds of frantic stormtroopers attempting to open the door could be heard from the other side.

"The basement door is reinforced," Lavabo told them. "It should hold long enough for us to make it to the subbasement." He squeezed himself and his giant blaster canon past Tom and Buff Frog. "Follow me!"

The basement stairs were dimly lit and it was hard to see each stair tread. Holding onto the handrail was a necessity. It seemed to take forever to reach the basement, and Tom breathed a thankful sigh of relief when they reached the bottom where the lighting was better.

"Hang on," Marco said as he observed the stacks of boxes and crates that filled the room, "I thought we were going to the laundry room. This just looks like storage."

Lavabo laughed as he led them to another set of stairs on the adjacent wall. "That is because it is storage. This is the basement. The laundry room is in the _sub_basement." He pointed down the stairway. "This way."

"Oh, geez, more dark stairs," Tom groaned as he watched Lavabo begin his decent. Buff Frog followed closely behind. "I just know I'm gonna trip and fall."

Janna shoved him roughly forward, causing her partner to stumble on the first step. "Quit your blubberin', we don't have time for this."

Marco once again brought up the rear, but before he did he glanced up the stairs they had just descended, thankful there was no sign of stormtrooper headlamps on the dim staircase. Just as he was about to follow after his friends, a strange thought crossed his mind. _Glossaryck..._

Marco's eyes scanned all around the room, but there was no sign of any life aside from himself. "Glossaryck?" he called out. "Glossaryck? Glossaryck, where are you? We could really use your vast knowledge of the Force right about now!"

Silence was the only reply. There was no sign of the old Force-guru.

Marco shook his head and hurried down the steps toward the subbasement.

* * *

Queen Moon sighed and removed her crown from atop her head, setting it carefully on her desk. She knew she had mere moments before the stormtroopers streaming in through the castle's main entrance reached her office in the east tower.

"So now what?" asked a voice. "Just giving up?"

She looked up to see a familiar, tiny blue figure floating down from above. "Glossaryck."

"Glossaryck!" River shouted, whirling away from the open window. "Where have you been?! We need your powers to protect the castle!"

Glossaryck shook his head. "Mm. No."

"No?!"

"I don't have the capacity for violence. It's one of the reasons I left the Jedi Order. Besides," he went on as he floated over to the window and observed the wanton destruction occurring below as hordes of stormtroopers roamed the streets, "even with all of my knowledge of the Force...this is still beyond my capabilities." He turned back to the Queen. "Would you have sent Star away if you thought otherwise?"

Moon sadly shook her head. "No."

Eclipsa, having been leaning through the open door into the hallway, suddenly ducked back into the office and closed the door, setting the magnetic lock. "We're about to have company," she said simply.

The senator was correct. A few moments later, the sounds of Imperial stormtroopers in the hallway reached their ears, the echoing clangs of metal-on-metal as they attempted to break down the door.

River quietly came to his wife's side, taking her by the hand, attempting to appear brave and unshakable as he said, "I love you, Moonpie." But Moon could see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Glossaryck..." Moon said slowly, afraid to ask the burning question on her mind, "can you see Star's future? Will she be alright?"

The old Force-guru closed his eyes, feeling the swirls and ebbs and flows of the Force. "It's cloudy, but...I think she will make it off-world okay. Anything past that is anybody's guess."

From the other side of the office, the stormtroopers could be heard requesting explosive charges to blow the door open. "Glossaryck, get yourself out of sight," Moon quickly ordered. "If Star ever returns...she will need your guidance."

"Sure you wouldn't rather me stick around here with you?"

"We'll be fine. Go!"

"Okay then." Glossaryck waved his arms and evaporated into a cloud of green mist, calling a final, "Good luck," just before he vanished.

Moon squeezed River's hand. "I love you, too, River."

The office door was obliterated in a deafening explosion, a cloud of dust and smoke filling the room. Before Moon, River, and Eclipsa could even get their bearings, each was struck by the opaque blue ring of energy from a stormtrooper's E-11 blaster rifle. All three crumpled lifelessly to the floor.

Three stormtroopers entered the office. The first used his armored boot to roll Eclipsa over onto her back. _"It's Senator Butterfly."_

The other two troopers inspected the other stunned Mewmans. _"The King and Queen here."_

_"I'll call it in." _The lead trooper removed his commlink from his belt and activated it._"Sir. This is ST-102. We've captured King and Queen Butterfly, as well as the renegade Senator."_

_"What is your location, trooper?" _returned a smooth and unimpressed voice.

_"Butterfly Castle, sir. We appear to be in an office in the east tower."_

_"What about the Princess and her friends?"_

_"No sign of them, sir."_

_"I'm on my way. Secure the prisoners in the castle courtyard and continue your search. She is likely nearby."_

_"Yes, sir." _The stormtrooper turned to the others standing in the corridor beyond the doorway. _"Cut the power off and seal all exits. Then fan out and find the Princess. Don't let her escape!"_

* * *

The gang was halfway down the stairs to the subbasement when the power was cut, the already dim lighting instantly flickering out and plunging the staircase in complete darkness.

"Whoaaaa, it is _really _dark!" Tom exclaimed as everyone halted their decent.

"No one panic!" Marco said in a loud whisper. "Not a problem!" He quickly ignited Star's lightsaber, the glowing blade filling the staircase with an emerald glow, plenty bright enough to see by. He handed his own lightsaber to Janna. "Here, pass this up to Tom."

Janna handed the weapon off to Tom, who flicked it on. The azure glow from Marco's lightsaber added to the illumination, making it almost brighter than the dim lights overhead.

"Come along," Lavabo urged. "We approach the end."

At last, they reached the subbasement, just as dark as the stairs. Lavabo guided the group between the various washing machinery, all of which appeared to be in perfect working order despite looking extremely antiquated. He led them to the far back corner of the room and down three steps to a small stone platform just large enough for all five of them to stand on. The platform was the edge of a rectangular basin about three meters deep and a little less than half filled with water that came in through a dozen pipes which were the outlets for waste water from the laundry equipment. Water went out again through a large drain tube on the opposite side, protected by a metal grate.

Carefully setting down his rotary blaster canon, Lavabo motioned to Tom. "May I borrow the lightsaber please?"

"Oh, uh, sure. Here."

Without deactivating the blade, Tom carefully handed over Marco's weapon to the Knight of the Wash, who immediately slid into the waist-high water. Lavabo waded over to the drain pipe and, with three quick, precise slashes, cut a triangular hole in the grate. He hoisted the severed piece out of the way with one hand as if it were weightless.

"Padawan Diaz, do you mind if I hold onto this until we have safely traversed the drainage tunnel?" Lavabo asked of the azure lightsaber in his hand. "My canon is much too large to carry through the drain and I am afraid I do not have a smaller weapon. Also, the tunnel is...quite dark."

"Uh, yeah, sure. Just, uh...don't, you know...lose it." Marco forced himself not to look in Janna's general direction. He didn't want her to think he was making a jab at her.

"Thank you, youngling," Lavabo said with a polite bow. "Now, quickly! Follow me!"

Buff Frog slid into the drainage basin without any hesitation, the big frog man just as comfortable in water as on dry land. He ducked into the drain, once again taking care to ensure that he did not accidentally cause Star's head to make contact with the ceiling of the tunnel.

The three teenagers were a bit more hesitant, Marco especially. He watched as Janna and Tom each took their turns sliding carefully into the water. Being significantly shorter than Lavabo and Buff Frog, the water came up to their chests. They both turned to Marco still standing on the platform behind them.

"Come on, Marco," Janna urged. "What're you waiting for?"

Marco clenched his teeth. "Just bracing myself for wet socks..." He crouched down and slowly slid into the water, grimacing as the water poured over the tops of his boots and saturated his socks before slipping the rest of the way in, careful to keep Star's lightsaber above the water. "Okay, I'm good," he said through clenched teeth. In addition to his soaked socks, the water was also freezing cold which did not make the experience any more pleasant. "C'mon, let's go."

Awkwardly sloshing through the high water in the drainage tunnel as quickly as they could, they hurried to catch up with Buff Frog and Lavabo. Fortunately, the grown Mewman and Frog Man did not fit through the tunnel quite as easily as the teenagers and the young trio easily erased the distance separating them from their escorts.

The group moved forward methodically, keeping a steady pace, the only sound the soft echoing of the rippling water as they pushed onward, and the humming of the two lightsabers illuminating their way. Occasionally, an explosion would be heard from above ground, but no one was brave enough to acknowledge the chilling noise.

The slow, half-submerged trek went on for almost ten minutes before Sir Lavabo abruptly raised his left hand. "Halt!" he whispered loudly.

"What i-?" Tom began.

"Silence!"

As the Knight of the Wash and the royal family's last line of defense, Lavabo had been trained in and mastered many forms of combat, including sword combat. He held Marco's lightsaber before him with both hands, poised to strike. The others watched as best they could from their single-file positions behind. For almost a full minute, Lavabo remained completely motionless, everyone scarcely daring to breathe, unsure what had caused their guide to suddenly command them to stop.

And then it burst from the water, letting out a piercing shriek that echoed through the drainage tunnel and nearly drowned out Tom's panicked scream of terror. The creature was some native species of aquatic hydra, though instead of having many heads, it had only one, about the size of Buff Frog's skull, it's gapping mouth opening incredibly wide on a hinged jaw like that of a serpent. A dozen tentacles with barbed ends stretched up above the water as it stared at Lavabo from its single, unblinking blind eye. Lavabo did not so much as flinch, while those behind him shrank back in shock, Buff Frog instinctively covering Star on his shoulder with both muscular arms to protect her.

The Knight of the Wash slashed the azure-bladed lightsaber forward, but the hydra was quick, ducking backwards out of reach. Even so, the fast swipe of the laser sword managed to sever one of its tentacles, and the creature shrieked in pain. It sank quickly back beneath the surface of the water.

"Where'd it go?! Where'd it go?!" Tom yelped, backing up against the wall.

"Do not move!" Lavabo yelled. "It cannot see you, but your movements will make it easier to find you!"

It was too late.

Tom screamed again as he felt something wrap around his calf. "It's got my leg! It's got my-!"

And then he disappeared, roughly yanked beneath the surface.

"Tom!"

Janna frantically tried to spot her partner below the water, but all she could see was the reflection of Star's lightsaber blade in Marco's hand on the now-turbulent surface. She did, however, feel something make contact with her legs as it forced its way past her in the narrow tunnel. She stumbled backwards and nearly fell.

Marco's adrenaline-fueled Jedi-instinct kicked in. Sucking in a deep breath, he bent his knees and allowed himself to slip completely beneath the water. Forcing himself to keep his eyes open, Star's lightsaber, completely beneath the surface, bathed the lower half of the tunnel in emerald light. He could clearly see the hydra pulling itself along by its tentacles, dragging Tom behind it, aiming itself directly at him.

_Force guide my blade-don't let me hit Tom!_

Swinging the lightsaber underwater took much more effort than on land, but he managed to strike the hydra midway up its narrow body...just as its mouth was opening to engulf his face. The head spasmed as the body and most of its tentacles were severed, the creature panicking as it squirmed in pain. It shot off down the tunnel with its remaining two appendages, leaving Tom wrapped in a writhing heap of twitching tentacles.

The demonicite could not free himself, nor could he raise himself above the water for a breath of air. Remaining submerged, Marco kicked off the tunnel wall with his cybernetic leg, propelling himself through the water until to within range, then carefully cut Tom free and helped the terrified smuggler surface.

Tom gasped as he broke the surface, panting hard, while Marco wiped the moisture from his face and eyes.

"Tom!" Janna exclaimed, quickly putting an arm around him to ensure he would not slip back under. "Are you okay?"

He could only manage to nod in reply as he struggled to refill his empty lungs.

Marco looked toward Lavabo. "What was that thing?"

"Freshwater Mewnian Megahydra. Feisty things. Always building their nests in the drainage tunnel and blocking it up," the Knight answered.

The echo of a muffled explosion boomed overhead, interrupting any further discussion.

"We must keep moving," Buff Frog said simply.

Marco looked to Tom. "You okay to keep going?"

"Yeah...I'm okay. Thanks for the save, bro."

"No prob. C'mon. We gotta get back to the _Raventalon_."

"Right. Janna, I'm okay now, you can let go of me."

"Oh, right!" Janna quickly retracted her arm, blushing, having not even realized that she was still holding onto her partner.

They resumed their slow, saturated trek in silence once more, the sounds of battle and destruction above ground fading away as they drew further and further away from the castle.

"I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic in here," Tom said after about ten minutes. "How much further?"

"We are almost to the end of the tunnel," Lavabo replied. "Just a bit further."

He was correct, as no more than forty-five seconds passed before the tunnel opened up. Unfortunately, this was not the end. They found themselves in larger space very similar to where their journey began. The drain pipe had become a canal for the last dozen meters before ending in a wall, a narrow platform on the right side. Near the furthest wall, the water seemed to abruptly accelerate.

"What's this, a dead end?" Tom inquired.

"Not quite. This is where the water exits into the river from the hillside," Lavabo explained as he pulled himself out of the water and up onto the platform. He gestured to the far wall with Marco's lightsaber. "There is a much smaller pipe there, beneath the surface, where the water drains out, and a filtration unit cleans the water before it empties into the river. I will have to deactivate it for us to traverse the pipe." He made his way to a control panel on the back wall and began tapping keys. "We must pull ourselves through one at a time."

"Could we not just cut a hole in the wall?" Buff Frog asked. "We have two of the hot swords."

Lavabo shook his head as he tapped a final key and the soft whirring of some sort of machinery could be heard shutting down. "I am afraid not. The final stretch of pipe is two dozen meters long." He slid back into the water. "There is still a decent length of the hillside beyond that wall."

Janna raised an eyebrow and asked the question on Buff Frog's mind before the Mewni general could. "How's Star gonna get through? She can't hold her breath if she's unconscious!"

Everyone looked at the limp princess draped over Buff Frog's shoulder. It was true, she couldn't hold her breath while unconscious. The pipe that led to escape from the hordes of invaders was completely submerged and long enough that it would take most of a lung-full of oxygen to reach the end.

Lavabo put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm...that would seem to be a problem."

"I can get Star through."

Now everyone turned to look at Marco, still standing at the back of the room.

"You can?" Tom asked. Marco only nodded in reply. "How?"

"Let's just say if you hang around a Nautolan Jedi Master long enough, you pick up a few water-based Force-tricks." Marco waded over to the general. "Let me have her, Buff Frog." The Frog Man complied, gingerly lifting Star from his shoulder and setting her into the water, Marco cradling her gently in his free arm and using the water to make her float. "You guys all go first. I'll bring Star after."

"Are you sure?" Buff Frog asked.

Marco stared at the water. "Yes. I...I...it's going to take...a lot of concentration for me to do this. It will be easier if you guys aren't watching me or anything. Just be ready on the other side to pull us out when we get close."

Buff Frog was unsure about leaving Star behind even temporarily. After all, he had promised the Queen that _he_ would get Star to safety. He glanced at Janna, and the smuggler captain nodded at him confidently, knowing that there was no person in the galaxy more worthy of trust to keep Star safe than Marco Diaz. "Alright, Saber boy. I will be waiting on other side to pull you and princess through."

"Thank you, Buff Frog."

And so, while Marco stood back and watched, Lavabo explained to the others how to find their way through. "Take a deep breath, keep your arms out straight in front of you, and pull yourself through. The current should help you along, but you will never make it through before you run out of air if you do not pull yourself along."

Janna, ever fearless, went first. She removed her hat and tucked it into the empty holster inside of her jacket to ensure she would not lose it, checked to make sure her single remaining blaster was secure in the opposite holster, and then took a deep breath and plunged beneath the water. The others waited a full minute to give her a chance to reach the other end, and then Tom took his turn. Lavabo extinguished Marco's lightsaber, causing the room to become significantly dimmer, and tucked it beneath his belt before diving through the pipe himself.

Buff Frog looked to Marco one last time, his eyes falling upon the unconscious Princess. "You are sure that you can get Star Butterfly through safely?"

"Well...I sure hope so," Marco said, nervous. "To be perfectly honest...I've never actually attempted what I'm about to do."

This did not ease Buff Frog's mind. "What? I thought you knew what you were doing?! If you are not absolutely certain, then we must be finding another way!"

"Okay. I'm open to suggestions."

"Well..." Buff Frog looked around. He could think of no possible method for safely transporting the unconscious girl through the pipe. "...I...do not know."

"Yeah...me neither. I wish there was another way." Marco sighed. For a moment, the room was silent, save for the humming of Star's green lightsaber in his hand. He squeezed the elaborately crafted hilt as he looked the Mewni General square in the eyes. "Buff Frog...Star isn't just my best friend. I love her." He watched as the Frog Man's eyes abruptly widened with surprise, his stern expression softening. "I love her more than anything else in the entire galaxy. If I allowed something to happen to her...I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I will do everything in my power to keep her safe. And that goes double for once we leave Mewni, too." Marco looked hard into Buff Frog's eyes. "I will get Star through...even if I don't get through myself. Just be waiting on the other side to pull her through."

Buff Frog understood. Even if Marco was unsure of his ability to transport Star through the pipe safely, there was no being in the galaxy more determined to keep the Princess safe. "Okay, Saber Boy. I will be on other side waiting."

"Oh, and don't panic if I don't come through right away. It might take me a few minutes to figure out how to do this."

"Understood." Buff Frog saluted the young Padawan, dove beneath the water, and disappeared.

And then Marco was left all alone with his unconscious best friend. He looked down at her face, her cute features somehow managing to appear pained and tortured while completely old cold. "Okay, Star...Let's get you out of here."


	36. At Odds

**I'm glad I was able to at least mention the character from ****_Star Wars: The Clone Wars_**** voiced by Adam McArthur somewhere in this story.**

**It may be a good idea to go back and reread chapter 13 before reading this chapter.**

**Warning: This chapter is REALLY dark. ****L****ike, EXTREMELY dark****. ****Reader discretion is advised. **

Merely one standard year prior to the Imperial invasion of Mewni, Jedi Master Kit Fisto participated in the Battle of Mon Calamari. Dispatched by the Jedi Council along with Padawan Ashoka Tano and a squadron of SUCBA clone troopers to assist Anakin Skywalker, Kit was selected for the assignment because of his natural sub-marine abilities. As a Nautolan native to another "water-world", that of Glee Anselm, Kit was a very strong swimmer and was just as comfortable breathing water as he was air, thanks to a set of gills on either side of his head.

Upon his return to Coruscant following the campaign, Kit's young Padawan friend Marco Diaz begged the Jedi Master to recount his adventures.

"So there we were," Kit said dramatically while a starry-eyed Marco hung on his every word, about halfway through his tale. "Held captive by Count Dooku's ruthless compatriot, Riff Tamson. Master Skywalker and I blocked from escape by electric eels, Representative Binks and Senator Amidala strung up by their arms! Tamson demanded that we give up the location of young Prince Lee-Char, torturing us with painful electrical shocks from the eels!"

"But...you didn't even know where the prince was," Marco said, recalling the earlier part of the story where Ashoka Tano and the Prince had escaped when the others were captured.

"Indeed! Not that we would have told that old Karkarodon if we had, of course."

"Haha, of course!"

"Tamson grew impatient, angry that we would not talk. So, to make us talk, he attacked Senator Amidala!"

Marco gasped. "No!"

"Yes! He chomped down on her dive helmet until it fractured, the intense undersea pressure forcing water through the crack! When we still did not give up the Prince's location despite Padmé's helmet filling with water, Tamson realized that we had indeed been telling the truth and we did not know where Lee-Char was."

"So what did you do?"

"Well, just then, Tamson was alerted that Prince Lee-Char had been spotted by the droids, so he had no more use for us. He left, leaving the poor Senator to drown. Though Anakin and I could not leave our, uh...'eel cells' to aid her, our arms were free, and we could still use the Force. I've taught myself a number of sub-marine Force abilities over the years, but we were so deep and under so much pressure, it was difficult to perform what I had in mind alone.

"I instructed Master Skywalker to help me push the water away from Padmé's helmet, creating a bubble and preventing more water from leaking in through the crack. It worked for a short time, but unfortunately, the eels shocked Anakin again, breaking his concentration, and I could not hold the water back on my own."

"So how did you save the senator?"

"Actually, Anakin and I were not the ones to save her. Representative Binks was."

"Get outta town!"

Kit laughed heartily. "No, it is true. He used his...um...well, he referred to it as 'Gungan waterproofing.' He used his Gungan waterproofing to seal the crack in Senator Amidala's helmet. It was not the most pleasant sight to see, but I must say, it was extremely effective." Kit laughed again. "You know, Jar Jar Binks is actually quite a resourceful fellow, far more so than his appearance and demeanor would suggest."

"Not as resourceful as you!" Marco said excitedly. "I mean, using the Force underwater to create a bubble for Senator Amidala to breathe from? Who would think of that?! I sure wouldn't have!"

Kit chuckled, finding Marco's exuberance a refreshing change from the dull and serious Jedi Council meetings. Some of the other Jedi Masters did not approve of the way he so openly spoke of his exploits on the battlefield, similar to the way they chided Anakin Skywalker for doing the same. But the way Kit saw it, if Marco wanted to know, what reason did he have to keep it a secret? There were no skeletons in his closet to hide.

_Besides,_ Kit thought, _perhaps someday, the experiences of my own that I share may help the boy out of a jam someday._

* * *

If Jedi Master Kit Fisto could have said "I told you so" from beyond the grave to the other members of the Jedi Council...he wouldn't have. But he would have flashed them a toothy smile that would have gotten the message across.

Marco gently set down Star's lightsaber on the edge of the platform at the pool's edge, careful not to let the glowing emerald blade switch off and plunge him into darkness. Star's lengthy mane of blonde hair swirled around in the water before him as he carefully half-floated her in front of him.

"Okay...just gotta be real careful about this...and do what Master Fisto did."

Marco shivered. Though the water was chilly, it was not the source of his trembling. His nerves were frayed. It was all up to him to get Star out of here safely, and he was rightfully scared. The phrase_low midichlorian count _repeated over and over in his mind.

Slowly, Marco knelt his left cybernetic leg on the stone floor beneath the water, leaving his chin just a few centimeters above the surface, his right leg at a right angle in front of him. He sat Star on his thigh, making it easier to hold her steady with just his left hand. Gazing at her unconscious yet distressed face as her head flopped limply to the side just above the water's surface, he swallowed nervously.

"Come on, Diaz. You can do this."

Holding up his right palm facing Star, Marco carefully focused his concentration on her head, calling the midichlorians in the water surrounding her neck. The water began to move, creating a crater-shape in the surface below Star's head. As slowly and as carefully as he could, Marco slowly lowered his prosthetic leg, sinking Star down closer to the bottom. The divot in the water's surface became a bowl as Marco held back the liquid away from Star's head.

_It's working! _

But Marco was struggling to keep his hold on the water. His hand shook uncontrollably as he fought to retain it, silently pleading to himself not to lose his connection to the Force. Just as he lowered Star into the "bowl" so that her nose was level with natural surface of the water, he lost his hold. The water quickly rushed to regain its original shape, and Marco had to abruptly jolt Star upward to keep water from filling her nostrils and mouth.

"Drat," Marco muttered to himself. "That's okay, I wasn't expecting to get it on the first try. Just breathe, and..."

Repeating his process, Marco began again, pushing the water apart around Star's neck and then slowly deepening the air pocket as he lowered her carefully down. But, once again, just before her nose dipped below the surface, he found that he could not hold the water back any more and his connection to the Force broke, causing the water to come rushing back in.

A third time Marco tried, then a fourth and a fifth, but each time he reached a threshold where he just was not strong enough in the Force to retain the water. As he failed for a sixth time, Marco began to realize that there was no possible way he could perform the task required of him, and at the seventh failure, tears of fear and frustration began to leak from his eyes.

"I can't do it...I'm not strong enough...I just can't do it..." He hugged Star to him, her soaked blonde hair clinging to his cheeks as he clenched his eyes shut, sobbing as he pressed his cheek against hers. _  
_

_"You are plenty strong enough, dear boy." _

Marco shot straight up, quickly grabbing Star's lightsaber from the platform and whirling around in the water, searching for the source of the voice that suddenly echoed through the tunnel.

"Who's there?!"

"Its only me, Marco."

This time, the voice did not reverberate through the tunnel, but instead came quietly from right on Marco's shoulder. The Padawan jumped and nearly lost his grip on both Star and the lightsaber, quickly regrouping to keep from losing both beneath the water. Once he did, he saw Glossaryck floating just before him in the dim, emerald light.

"Hello!" waved the little blue man.

"Glossaryck!" Marco exclaimed. "Where have you been?! We needed you!"

Glossaryck looked smug. "Mm...I don't think so. I think you're doing just fine on your own."

"In what way...are we...doing fine?" Marco stumbled over his own words. "Nothing about any of this is fine! Why didn't you show up earlier? With your help, we may have actually stood a chance against the Empire!"

The little blue man chuckled as he slowly circled Marco's head. "You greatly overestimate my power, dear boy. They would have overwhelmed me, too."

Marco felt utterly defeated. "Alright, fine, I don't have time to argue with you. Can you help me get Star out of here?"

Glossaryck shrugged. "I don't know. Can I?"

"...Will...you...help...me? Please." Already frustrated and annoyed by his previous failures to help Star to safety, Marco was becoming quite agitated by this conversation.

The Force-guru's reply was another shrug. "What is it that you are attempting to do that doesn't seem to be working?"

"I am _trying," _Marco nearly shouted, "to create a bubble around Star's head for her to breathe in while I take her through the drain pipe! But I can't do it. I'm not powerful enough and I can't hold the water back. But I'm sure you could do it very easily."

"Of course I could," Glossaryck replied. "But I won't."

"What?! Why not?"

Glossaryck chuckled. "Well, because then you wouldn't learn anything."

Marco was dumbfounded. "Learn any-?! Glossaryck, this isn't the time for this! The others are all waiting for me and Star outside and we've got to get out of here before those stormtroopers find us and trap us in here!"

"On the contrary, Master Diaz." He looked Marco straight in the eyes, suddenly dead serious. Marco actually felt a chill. "It is_exactly_ the time for this. One never learns a skill faster than when time is of the essence."

"But-!"

"The Dark Side is strong with you, Marco. It is inside you, as it always has been. Use it. It will give you the strength you need."

Marco scowled. "You are really getting on my nerves."

The smirk Glossaryck gave in return was somewhat unnerving. "Is that so?"

"Yes! We could have already been on the other side of that wall now if you would just help me! But all you're doing is ticking me off!"

"Oh, good!" Glossaryck said with a chuckle. "That's what I was going for."

Marco saw red. "Why, you little-! I oughta-!" And suddenly, Marco understood. Glossaryck actually was helping him. Anger. Fear. Passion. These were the emotions that Dark Side Force-wielders draw from. And Marco was certainly frustratingly mad. And scared.

He was afraid, not just of his and Star's current predicament, but of the Dark Side of the Force itself. To say Marco didn't want to dip into the Darkness would be a gross understatement. The very idea terrified him, scared that once he started in that direction, he wouldn't be able to come back.

He didn't need to voice these concerns, though. It was as if Glossaryck could read his mind.

"Don't worry, Marco. You won't lose control." Glossaryck gestured to Star, still unconscious in Marco's arms. "Remember, you've got plenty of Light to keep you grounded. Right there."

It was conflicting information. Everything Marco had ever learned about the Dark Side was that it was corrupting, consuming, and nearly impossible to pull away from. Not to mention that the memory of his loss of control at dinner when Janna told him she had lost Kit Fisto's lightsaber was still fresh in his mind. Yet, Glossaryck seemed so certain that Star's mere existence would prevent the darkness from sinking it's hooks into him.

Marco sighed. If Glossaryck wouldn't do it for him, then he didn't really have a choice.

_Just try not to think about it too much... _

Marco repeated his earlier process of kneeling on the stone bottom beneath the water, balancing Star in a seated position on the knee of his mechanical leg, and raised his hand. Glossaryck watched with interest as the Padawan closed his eyes, his breathing loud and heavy, but slow and consistent.

_It's there...it's inside me...it always has been..._

Despite the fact that he had unknowingly tapped into the Dark Side before, Marco was not actually sure how to purposely utilize it. With hardcore focus, he searched within._  
_

_Draw it out...feed it...use it..._

Nothing.

...

...

..._  
_

_...for Star..._

There was was. Marco could feel it, the Darkness. It was cold. And yet, somehow, it was also hot. Burning. Scalding even. He drew it out by will, focusing the roiling Dark energy to flow out from the deep internal well in which it resided, up into his arm to the tips of his fingers.

Very little conscious thought propelled Marco's actions as he focused the Force around Star's head instead of on the water beneath her chin. He slowly lowered his knee and Star sank down, the water yielding to the invisible bubble he had formed around her. Marco allowed himself to slip beneath the surface of the water as well, and as he opened his eyes, the glow from Star's lightsaber in his hand showed him what had hoped to see.

A perfect bubble of air surrounded Star's head, suspended beneath the water. Most of her hair was outside of the air pocket, floating behind her like a many-tentacled blonde jellyfish.

Now Marco had a slight predicament. How would he get Star through the drain? He only had two hands, and he needed one to hold her lightsaber for a light source and one to direct his use of the Force on the space around her so that she could breathe. _  
_

_Maybe I don't need the light..._

Careful not to break his concentration, Marco extinguished Star's lightsaber, plunging himself into darkness, and shoved it under his belt. He quickly reached out toward where he had last seen Star's arm and managed to grasp his best friend's left wrist with his now free right hand. Mentally reaching out with the Force, he found that his suspicion was correct. He could indeed, to some degree, "see" his physical surroundings in the Force. The limits of the walls, the floor beneath him, the surface of the water, Star, and even her bubble. But most importantly, he could feel the opening of the drain tube in the wall.

Marco kicked off the bottom, aiming for the drain, holding his right arm outstretched in front of him so that Star would be beside him instead of trailing behind. Because both of his arms were currently occupied with very important tasks, his strong cybernetic leg was a convenient attribute to help him swim toward his destination.

At last, almost half an hour after his friends had made their own way to safety, Marco and Star entered the drain. It was only just wide enough for them to fit through side by side. Now forced low to the stone floor and assisted by the current, it was easier for Marco to advance himself and Star along by pushing against the bottom with the toes of his boots.

Marco opened his eyes. He could see light refracting through the water back to him from the drain tube's termination point. It was about fifteen meters away.

And that's when Marco came to the horrifying realization that he was out of breath. He kicked against the bottom faster and harder, which only expended the remaining oxygen in his lungs faster. His lungs burned, screaming for air. Worse still, his panic was causing his concentration to falter and Star's bubble was starting to collapse.

_No! No! _

In a desperate bid to reach safety, Marco tried to force himself to pick up the pace, but his oxygen-starved muscles lacked the stamina to go on.

_I'm not gonna make it...I'm not gonna make it..._

He looked to his right. Star's bubble was shrinking, and it was beginning to leak.

_No...gotta...save...Star..._

Even if he couldn't make it out before he himself drowned, Marco vowed that he would ensure Star lived. With the last of his strength, he pulled Star in front of him. While he focused on keeping her breathing pocket intact just a little longer through his left hand, he let go of her arm with his right and held the palm up straight. Willing the Dark Side energy within him to give him strength, Marco performed an underwater Force-push, launching Star forward and down the drain pipe. She disappeared into the light at the end of the tunnel in just two seconds.

_Goodbye, Star..._

Marco dropped his connection to the Force, and as he did, all semblance of feeling exited his body. He could no longer even hold his head up, or his eyelids open. Closing his eyes, Marco blacked out.

* * *

The stormtroopers stood at attention and saluted as their leader strolled past, his hands clasped behind his back. He found the stormtrooper Captain waiting for him with the prisoners, the three stunned Mewmans lying on the ground with their wrists in binders. A trio of stormtroopers surrounded them, each holding their blaster rifle trained on one of the prisoners.

_"Sir!" _the Captain greeted as he addressed his superior.

"Remove the binders. And wake them up."

_"Yes, sir!"_

The Captain holstered his weapon and bent down beside the nearest of the three Mewmans, which happened to be King River. He unlocked and removed the binders from the King's wrists, then did the same for Senator Eclipsa and Queen Butterfly. Then he produced a medical syringe from his belt and gave each of them an injection in the arm, beginning with the Queen since he was already beside her.

As such, the Queen was the first to awaken when the stimulant roused her from the effects of being stunned. She was not expecting to see the being who currently stood over her, and her eyes went wide as she gasped his name.

"Toffee."

The Septarian smiled, a smug and evil expression accentuated by the exposed upper row of sharp teeth. "Please, Moon, I must request that you to address me by my full title."

Moon slowly pushed herself up off the ground. She was not aware of any title the Septarian had earned, but that did not matter to her. "Oh!" she said in a mockingly apologetic tone. "How could I be so rude? Please forgive me, _Traitor _Toffee."

Toffee laughed. "Oh, Moon, no! I meant _Moff_. Moff Toffee."

River opened his eyes, catching sight of their captor. "Oh, great. It's the lizard guy." He quickly got to his feet, prompting the stormtrooper guarding him to press his blaster against the back of the King's neck. River didn't seem to even notice. "Come back to try to undermine the Butterfly family again, have you?"

If Toffee's face could have possibly become more smug, it did so. "No need. You see, you are being removed from power. By the authority of Emperor Palpatine, I have been granted governing authority over the entire system of Mewni."

"He can't do that!" Moon said as she drew unsteadily to her feet. "He doesn't have the authority to remove local planetary political leaders from power!"

"He does if those rulers are suspected of treason against the Galactic Empire. Which you are." He slid a datapad out of his jacket, scrolling through text with a pointed finger. "Let's see here...ah, yes. For conspiring with known traitors of the Galactic Republic, now First Galactic Empire, ordered to be executed by the highest authority." He tossed the datapad over his shoulder. "So tell me, Queen Moon, where are your daughter and that little friend of hers?"

"Not here," Moon growled.

A moan behind the King and Queen caused all three to turn, where they saw Eclipsa finally rousing from her stunned state as well.

"Ah, Senator Butterfly," Toffee greeted. "Welcome back! You have also been found guilty of treason!"

"Guilty? You can't find me guilty. There hasn't even been a trial."

"Actually, I can." The Septarian sounded faux apologetic. "During this very difficult and trying time for the galaxy, the Senate has had to pass some emergency legislation. The right to a trial by a jury of peers has been suspended for those individuals suspected of treason. As such, by the authority granted to me by the Emperor of the Galactic Empire, I hear-by relieve you of office, and strip you of your senatorial credentials."

Eclipsa shrugged. "I honestly suspected as much."

Toffee looked almost disappointed that the Senator hadn't protested more. "Mm." He turned back to Moon. "Now, your majesty, returning to the previous subject. We know your daughter and her friends are here on Mewni, don't try to deny it. So I ask again..." He leaned closer to Moon until his snout was nearly touching her nose. "Where are Star Butterfly and her friends?"

For a moment, Moon said nothing. When she did finally answer, she spoke so softly that River and Eclipsa almost could not hear her. "Go to hell, sleemo."

And Toffee backhanded her across the cheek.

"Monster!" River cried as his wife crumpled to the ground. He charged at the Septarian. "I'll-!" But he was cut off as the stormtrooper behind him fired his blaster, stunning the King again.

Toffee calmly addressed the trooper Captain once more. "Put them on the racks."

_"Yes, Sir!"_

* * *

A great, muscular hand grasped Marco by the arm and yanked him out of the drain pipe. The Padawan immediately began to cough up water as Buff Frog gingerly laid him on the creek bank beside Star.

"Saber Boy! Are you alright?"

Marco opened his eyes to Buff Frog, Tom, and Janna standing over him, their faces etched with worry.

"Yeah. *cough cough* I think so. *cough*" As he caught his breath, he turned his head to look at Star. "Is she...?" But his own question was answered as he noticed her chest slowly rising and falling beneath her waterlogged blue dress as she breathed.

"She's fine," Tom answered. "Didn't even cough up any water."

Expelling a bit more liquid from his own lungs as he carefully sat up, Marco checked out his surroundings. The drain from the Butterfly Castle laundry room emptied into a creek in the forest, rays of sunshine filtering down through the leaves of the trees overhead. Aside from the drain pipe, nothing else anywhere in sight gave any hint at civilization. Beside he and Star, he noticed that Tom and Janna had both removed their soaked jackets, which hung from a low tree branch where the sun could shine on them.

_Gee, I must have taken a really long time to get out here if they had time to dry their clothes..._

"Hey, where's Sir Lavabo?"

"He took off," Janna explained. "Said he needed to go 'perform his duty'." She made air quotes around the last three words.

Tom took a step forward, pulling Marco's lightsaber from his belt and tossing it back to its owner. "He gave this to me before he took off, though. What took you so long, Dude?"

Marco shrugged off his hoodie as he got to his feet. "It's, uh...difficult to explain. I'll tell you later." He folded his hoodie in half and wrung it out as best he could before putting it back on again. It was still damp, but better than being soaking wet.

The sound of blaster fire in the distance reached Buff Frog's ears. The Mewni General tensed up. "Come on," he urged. "We must get you back to ship."

Janna nodded and quickly retrieved hers and Tom's jackets from where they'd been hung to dry. "Right. Which way?"

Buff Frog looked around. "Let me see...ship is in clearing behind castle on southwest side, drain is on south eastern side of castle, so..." He pointed in the direction of the creek's flow. "That way." He bent down and scooped up Star, carefully placing her over his shoulder. "Let's go."

* * *

Revived by the stormtrooper Captain for a second time, River awoke to find himself suspended upright by his arms and legs, the sky above him filled with smoke from the explosion that had destroyed the castle's front gate. "Huh? What is this? What's going on? Release me at once!"

Looking left and right he found that he was hanging in between his wife and sister-in-law, both hanging in the air in the same manner as he by energy fields holding their wrists and ankles. The suspension "racks" were portable, having been brought into the courtyard on their tiny self-contained repulsorlifts.

"Ah, River. You're awake." Toffee reappeared, strolling toward them with his hands once again clasped behind his back. "Now we can begin." He reached into his breast pocket and brought forth a small remote. "Where is Star Butterfly?"

The trio remained silent.

"No? That's fine." Toffee pressed a button on the remote and electricity surged through the energy cuffs, shocking the three elder Butterflys. Moon, River, and Eclipsa screamed in pain as the current coursed through their bodies. Ten agonizing seconds passed before Toffee switched off the power from the remote. "How about now?"

Moon panted for breath. "If you think...torturing me...would make me give up my daughter..."

"You've got another thing coming," Eclipsa finished.

Toffee smirked. "We'll see."

And he turned the electricity back on.

* * *

Blasters drawn and at the ready, Janna and Tom led the way as the group traversed the forest, Buff Frog directing them from the rear to keep Star out of the line of fire if they encountered the enemy. Marco stuck close to the General, prepared to deflect incoming fire.

Janna pushed a large branch aside and suddenly found herself looking at a familiar dirt footpath. "Oh, hey. It's the path that leads back to that field where we left the _Raventalon_."

"Oh, thank goodness," Tom breathed. "We're almost there."

Marco urged them to keep going. "Let's hurry and get there before-" A tiny ripple in the Force tickled the back of Marco's neck. In an instant, he had ignited both his and Star's lightsabers, jumping in front of Tom and Janna to deflect away a pair of red blaster bolts streaking toward them. Several stormtroopers were emerging from around a bend a few dozen meters up the path toward the castle.

"Go! Go!" Marco yelled.

The others did not argue. They took off in the direction of the _Raventalon_, Janna and Tom each firing their blasters toward the stormtroopers as they took off. Buff Frog was close behind. Marco remained, drawing the troopers' fire on himself and away from his friends, spinning and twirling the blue and green blades in his hands to cover himself, and even managing to take out a few troopers with their own deflected blaster bolts.

More troopers appeared from the woods. A quick glance over his shoulder and Marco saw that his friends had disappeared around another bend further down the path.

_I'm outmatched. Time to retreat. _

Deflecting shots away from his back as he ran, Marco took off in pursuit of his friends. The stormtroopers pursued, but their bulky armor did not allow them to run as fast as the Force-aided Padawan with the cybernetic leg, and they soon were out of range.

_"Contact the Moff. Let him know we found those kids."_

* * *

When Toffee shut down the electrocution field for the sixth time, Eclipsa could see wisps of smoke drifting up from her skin and clothing. River did not notice it. He could not open his eyes.

Toffee positioned himself directly in front of Queen Moon, watching as she gasped for breath like a beached fish. He wished he could take the time to savor the pain and suffering of the Queen he so emphatically despised, but unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of time on his side.

Though, he could probably accomplish his goal and make Moon suffer at the same time.

"You know you want the pain to stop, Moon," Toffee said as he leaned in close to her face, staring hard into her eyes. "Just tell me where your daughter and her friends are and all of this comes to an end."

"Go...*pant*...to...*pant*...Hell."

Toffee had not been expecting quite that response, but he chuckled nonetheless, amused by the Queen's resolve and wondering if he could break it. "Okay. So you're quite resistant to physical torture. That's fine." He reached into his jacket and extracted a short-barrel blaster pistol, aiming it a Moon's midsection. "Maybe this will loosen your tongue."

"You think...threatening...to kill me...will make me...give up...my daughter?"

"Oh, no, not you." Without even looking away from Moon, he moved his hand to the left, bring the blaster to bear on Eclipsa. "Her."

"No!"

"Do not tell him anything, Moon!" Eclipsa yelled. "Do not-! GAHH!" she cried mid-sentence as Toffee squeezed the trigger and fired a shot into Eclipsa's left leg.

The Moff Grinned evilly at the Queen. "How about now?"

"All three of us are prepared to die. We expected it. We will never give up the children. So you might as well just go ahead and kill us."

"Okay." Toffee pointed the blaster pistol at Eclipsa once again. The former senator shut her eyes and braced herself for the killing shot.

_"Sir!"_

The Septarian lowered the blaster as a stormtrooper hurried over. "What?" he snapped, annoyed at being interrupted.

_"The Padawans and their friends have been spotted, along with the General of the Mewni Militia."_

Moon, River, and Eclipsa each involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath.

"Where?" Toffee asked.

_"In the woods behind the castle, sir." _

Toffee turned to the stormtrooper Captain. "Send the 324th and 679th to converge on their location."

_"Two entire battalions, sir? They're only children."_

"Do not underestimate them. They are more skilled than their age would suggest. Now go."

_"Yes, sir!" _the two troopers replied in unison, and they hurried off.

The Moff turned his attention back to the Mewni Royals. "Well, Moon, it appears that your usefulness has ended." He clicked his remote and the energy fields of all three suspension racks turned off. Moon, River, and Eclipsa tumbled haphazardly to the ground, picking themselves up to their hands and knees. Toffee chuckled to himself. "You know, for years, I have dreamed of the day that the great Queen Moon Butterfly would kneel before me and beg for mercy." He pressed the barrel of the blaster against her temple. "Beg, your majesty."

"Fiend!" River yelled, jumping to his feet. "You stay away from my wife! Or I'll have you in a-"

In one swift motion, Toffee pulled the blaster away from Moon's temple, reared back his hand, and clobbered the gun against the side of River's head. The King tumbled to the ground, and Moon and Eclipsa winced. The Queen began to say something, but suddenly found the blaster pressed to her head again.

"Where were we?" Toffee sneered. "Oh, yes, I believe you were about to beg for mercy, and plead for me not to kill you."

Moon's resolve was not shaken. "I will do no such thing."

Toffee's smile grew, his sharp teeth displayed beneath his curled lips. "That is exactly what I thought."

And he pulled the trigger.

River was frozen in horror as he watched his wife slump over lifelessly onto the ground. "Y-y-you...monster."

"Yes. I am." Toffee turned the blaster on River and shot the King in the head.

Finally, the Moff came to stand before Eclipsa. "Well, Senator, it seems that the penalty for treason is immediate execution." He took aim with the blaster one last time, his finger twitching over the trigger. "Any last words?"

Despite the tears flowing from her eyes, Eclipsa plucked up courage and spoke in an unwavering voice. "You may kill us, but trust me when I say you will never get Star and Marco. They are far too clever. And as long as those two kids are still alive, your days as the ruling power on Mewni are numbered."

The Moff chuckled. "We'll see about that."

And Toffee pulled the trigger.

* * *

Star slowly opened her eyes as she regained consciousness. Her mind was foggy.

_What happened? Where am I?_

Bouncing up and down slightly, she realized that she was moving backwards. She could feel a large hand on her back holding onto her. A dusty dirt path flew by beneath her, the way flanked by tall, full trees and weeds.

_Oh...right...Buff Frog is carrying me..._

She looked up. Over the tree tops, she could just make out the very top of the tallest tower of Butterfly Castle, a column of smoke rising along with it.

_Mom...Dad...Aunt Eclipsa..._

"There it is! We made it!" called out a familiar voice.

_Janna..._

The foliage surrounding the path abruptly fell away as the group reached the clearing where they had left the_Raventalon_. PY-HD squealed at its highest volume, racing to meet its organic companions in the middle.

"Pony Head!" Tom yelled. "Fire up the converters! We gotta get out of here!"

The astromech twittered frantically and raced back up the boarding ramp. It wasn't long before Tom and Janna caught up and followed their droid into the cabin of the _Raventalon. _

"What's our record for firing up and taking off?" Janna asked.

"I don't know, but let's beat it. Those stormtroopers can't be far behind."

Buff Frog stopped at the bottom of the boarding ramp and lifted Star gently from his shoulder, noticing as he set her down that she had regained consciousness. "Oh! Star Girl! You are awake! Are you alright?"

Star said nothing. She just stared back at Buff Frog though weary eyes. The big frog man felt a chill as they made eye contact. The ever-present sparkle of optimism and high-spirit was missing from her vibrant blue irises.

A few moments later, Buff Frog heard footsteps behind him. He turned to find Marco tearing across the open field toward him at a dead sprint.

"Saber-Boy! I was beginning to fear the worst! Did you defeat all of the stormtroopers by yourself?" Buff Frog asked as Marco stopped and caught his breath.

"No. Not even close. I just outran them. They'll be here any minute." He noticed Star sitting on the boarding ramp. "Star! You're awake! Are-" But he stopped when he saw her face. He didn't need to ask that question. He already knew the answer.

_No._

He knelt down in front of her, but his best friend did not look at him. "Star, I'm sorry...it..." But Marco didn't know what to say. Nothing seemed right. So instead, he placed her lightsaber into her hand. "Hopefully we'll take off before you need this...but just in case you need to defend yourself..."

Star closed her fingers around her lightsaber loosely, and Marco wasn't sure it wasn't going to fall out of her hand when he let go of it. It stayed in her grasp though as she lowered her hand into her lap. She still would not look at him.

Marco swallowed. "I'm, uh, gonna go help Tom and Janna, okay? I'll be back."

Star did not reply or even acknowledge Marco's words. He gave her vacant left hand a squeeze before hopping back to his feet and scurrying up the boarding ramp and into the cabin.

* * *

"Come on, come on," Tom muttered to himself as he fiddled with the controls. He jabbed the activation switch to fire the engines, but the only result was a sickening chirp from the motivator. PY-HD let out a mournful bloop.

"Oh, you have got to be kriffing kidding me," Janna groaned.

Marco hurried into the cockpit. "What's wrong?"

"The motivator is vapor-locked because the engines are still hot from our test flight this morning," Tom explained.

"I don't know what that means, but how can we fix it?"

"We'll need to manually hold open the intake for the central engine while we trim the reactor output," Janna said. "If we can get the central engine to fire, the others will, too. But the intake is spring loaded, and the spring is so stiff that it's practically unmovable."

Marco spun on the heel of his foot and bolted from the cockpit. "I bet I know who could hold it! One of you meet me down in the engine room!"

* * *

"Buff Frog!"

The General looked up to see that Marco had reappeared at the top of the boarding ramp. "Saber Boy? Something wrong?"

"We need your help! C'mon!" And he disappeared back into the ship.

"Okay! I am coming!" Buff Frog looked back down at Star. "Um, Star Butterfly...Perhaps you should be coming inside now."

He was surprised to hear her respond. "I...just want to take...one last look...at home..."

Her quiet words broke Buff Frog's heart. "Um...alright..." And the big frog man hurried up the ramp into the _Raventalon. _

Star staggered to her feet, the act of doing so feeling as though she were lifting the entire weight of the world beneath her feet. In the distance, thin tendrils of black smoke still rose from Butterfly Castle, the tip of the highest tower just barely visible above the trees.

A twinge in the Force struck at the back of Star's subconscious. She could sense it. As plain as could be, it was there...or rather, it wasn't there. _They_ weren't there.

_Because they're dead..._

* * *

The sound of Janna's voice came through Tom's commlink. _"Okay, Lucy, we're ready down here! Hit it!"_

Tom did not waste time replying, slowly turning the power control knob in tiny increments while holding the spring-loaded activation switch forward. The motivator clicked and the sound of the central engine whirring to life echoed through the ship. "Yes! Got it!"

_"Fire the other two!" _

"Already on it!" Tom's hands flew over the control panel, madly adjusting settings. The old port side engine coughed to life, assisted by power from the central engine, and the the new starboard side engine fired up smoothly soon after. PY-HD squealed with delight. "Yes!" Tom shouted, quickly bringing all other systems online and watching as the system diagnostic screen lit up all green. "We're good to go! Let's get out of here!"

_"Hang on, where's Star?" _Marco's voice this time.

_"The princess is still on boarding ramp," _Buff Frog answered.

"Well, get her inside!" Tom yelled. "We gotta go!"

* * *

Star walked forward as if in a trance, moving one foot in front of the other with slow deliberation. Not a single thought wormed it's way through her head. She had a purpose, a mission...destiny.

"Star!"

She barely registered the voice calling out to her. She just pressed onward, one step at a time.

Marco bolted off the boarding ramp and ran to her, Buff Frog close behind. "Star! We have to go, Star!" He quickly grasped her hand and gently tried to lead her back toward the _Raventalon_, but she still did not acknowledge him, not even sparing him a passing glance.

_Go? I can't go...I have to stay...I am needed here. _

Marco gave her arm a more firm yank. "Star! C'mon!"

She looked down at her right hand. Her lightsaber resided there between her fingers, the polished durasteel shimmering so vibrantly.

And she ignited it, the emerald blade hissing to life.

"Star! What are you doing?!" Marco yelled.

And suddenly, everything became clear. Star knew what she had to do, what she was _meant _to do. She jerked her hand free of Marco's grasp and took off, significantly more quickly than before, suddenly imbued with a fresh sense of determination and strength.

"Star! Stop!" Marco yelled after her. "Come back!"

_I won't stop! I can't stop! I'll run all the way back to the castle! No one will get in my way!_

Marco caught up with her and grabbed her by the arm again. "Star!"

She wrenched her hand free once more. This time, she took off running, her lightsaber humming rhythmically with each back-and-forth pump of her arms.

Marco sprinted after her, his cybernetic leg allowing him to erase the distance between them quite easily. He launched himself off the ground with the Force and somersaulted over Star's head, twisting around in midair and landing ahead of her. "Stop, Star! Stop!"

She juked to the left, attempting to get past him, but Marco was fast, and he blocked her escape. She tried the same maneuver to the right, but was blocked again.

"Grrr!"

Frustration overtaking her, Star wildly swung her lightsaber in Marco's direction.

"Whoa!" Marco yelped as he ducked under her blade. "Star! What are you doing?!"

"Get out of my way, Marco!" Star yelled.

"No!"

"I said-" Her emerald blade scorched the air again as she swung again. "Move!"

Marco jumped backwards out of the sword's path. He snatched his own lightsaber from his belt, igniting the azure blade. "Star! Stop! This isn't you!"

She swung again and their blades clashed. For the first time, Marco could see the cold and unfeeling emptiness in Star's eyes. She was not driven by anger, fear, or sorrow, but simply by a feeling of frustration and hopelessness.

The princess threw attack after attack at Marco, but her motions were wild, uncoordinated, completely lacking in any type of technique, and she was off-balance. He blocked each stroke of her blade with ease. One such counter strike sent Star reeling backwards, windmilling her arms to remain upright. With some distance now between them, Marco lowered his weapon and desperately tried to talk some sense into his best friend.

"Star, listen to me. Please," he begged, looking into her pupils with pleading eyes. She froze, but still brandished her lightsaber before her. "Star, I know you feel like you're abandoning your people. But the Empire...there's just too many. You know it's the truth."

"But...but I have to try..."

"Star...your parents...Aunt Eclipsa...they gave their lives so that you could escape." He saw her eyes widen. "I know. I felt it, too. They're gone." He swallowed hard. "They sacrificed themselves so that you could live, and come back with enough help to free Mewni from the Empire." He extinguished his lightsaber, but kept it in his hand just in case. "Mewni may have fallen...but it isn't gone forever. We have to survive today so that we can save it tomorrow."

Star's lightsaber trembled and she lowered the weapon to her side.

"Don't let your parents' and Eclipsa's deaths be in vain, Star." He took a slow step toward her. "We'll come back...when the time is right." He took another step closer. He was now but an arm's length away. "I promise."

Star slowly lowered her head as if holding it upright were simply too much. Her lightsaber blade shrank back into its hilt as it slipped from her fingers and fell to the grass. She fell forward toward Marco, burying her face in his chest as he caught her, tears streaming down her cheeks into his still-damp hoodie.

"I'm sorry, Marco," she whispered.

"It's okay, Star. C'mon. We have to go."

Star nodded, but her sudden strength and determination was gone. So, Marco put his arm around her shoulder and helped her back to the _Raventalon. _

Buff Frog scooped up Star's lightsaber off the ground and followed anxiously behind them, wondering to himself how it was possible that the stormtroopers that had attacked them earlier had not yet caught up. _Must be even slower than they are looking. _And then, just as they reached the boarding ramp, the first blaster bolt pinged off the hull above their heads.

"Saber Boy! Look out!"

Acting purely on instinct, Marco whirled around, his azure blade igniting in his hand again as a flurry of red energy bolts streaked toward him from the stormtroopers emerging from the woods all around them.

"Get Star inside!" Marco yelled.

Buff Frog carefully took Star from Marco, trading him the Princess's lightsaber, and helped her inside as Marco deflected every shot away from the boarding ramp as they climbed up.

"Buff Frog...Marco...needs my help..." Star moaned as the General carried her into the crew lounge and laid her on the bench seat.

"The only thing you are needing is rest, Star Butterfly. I will help Saber Boy." He hurried back through the doorway, passing back a single glance at the princess he had known since she was a newborn infant, hoping that this would not be the last time he saw her.

Marco, meanwhile, was nearly overwhelmed. Imperial Stormtroopers were oozing from the woods in droves, the fire from their blasters creating an ocean of crimson energy bolts. Even wielding both his and Star's lightsabers at once, he was not sure how long he could keep up.

As Buff Frog returned to the top of the boarding ramp, he realized that he didn't even stand a chance of escaping. _I need plan... _He quickly ducked into the cargo hold, finding a durasteel crate on repulsorlifts that was large enough for him to climb into. He shoved off the lid and muscled the crate over, flipping its contents onto the floor. Activating the repulsors, he pushed the crate to the boarding ramp, deactivated the momentum cancelling feature, pushed it over the top and hopped inside. The crate floated right past Marco, who looked extremely confused.

"Go! I will hold them off!" Buff Frog yelled. He pulled a pair of blaster pistols from their holsters. Using the crate as cover, he returned fire on the flood of stormtroopers.

"What? You're not coming with us?"

"I will cover your escape! Get Star to safety! Go!"

Marco could see that arguing was pointless. "May the Force be with you, Buff Frog!" He walked backwards up the boarding ramp, continuing to deflect blaster bolts as he went, until he reached safety inside the cabin and slammed down the lever to close the ramp. "Janna! Let's get out of here!" the Padawan yelled as he sprinted up to the cockpit.

Janna wasted no time. "Hang on." She hauled up on the control yoke and coaxed the _Raventalon _off the ground. The freighter rose straight up, above the fire fight on the ground below, which Janna suddenly took notice of. Looking out the viewscreen, she could see Buff Frog in his shipping container cover, firing back at the stormtroopers below. "Buff Frog wasn't on board?"

Marco shook his head sadly. "He said he's covering us."

Janna slowed the ship's ascent to a consistent hover, about twenty meters above the ground. She watched as, despite the general's best efforts with his blaster pistols, the stormtroopers rapidly closed in on him from all sides.

"Uh, Janna?" Tom said. "What are you doing?"

For a second, Janna did not respond. Then she suddenly jumped to her feet and bolted from the cabin. "Just hold the ship steady, Lucy!"

"What? Where are you going?"

Captain Ordonia did not reply. As fast as her legs would carry her, she rushed down to the cargo hold. She pushed past the supply crates to the rearward most bulkhead and slammed her shoulder into one of the durasteel sectional panels. The panel fell away to the floor with a crash, revealing the item which Janna sought.

* * *

_This oughta even the odds a bit._

An alert on Tom's panel told him that the boarding ramp was being lowered.

"What is she doing?" he wondered aloud.

Marco only shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

* * *

Buff Frog sighed. The stormtroopers advanced toward him in such great numbers that nearly every one of his shots took one down. They surrounded him completely; it was impossible to miss. And yet it seemed as though for every stormtrooper that fell to Buff Frog's pistols, two more would step forward.

The General stopped firing back. There was no point in continuing the fight. The kids' ship was in the air, the stormtroopers on the ground could do nothing to stop it now. He may as well just surrender and hope that they did not kill him.

"BUFF FROG!"

He looked up. There, standing on the edge of the _Raventalon_'s boarding ramp almost directly over his head, was Captain Janna Ordonia, holding a MWC-35c repeating blaster canon.

"CATCH!"

And Janna dropped the large piece of equipment directly toward Buff Frog's crate. He caught the weapon by the massive attached refrigerant tank, the canon itself falling outside of the crate. He reeled it back in by the thick power transfer cable.

"Now THIS is a canon!" He gave Janna a quick salute, and she returned the gesture before scurrying back inside the ship and retracting the boarding ramp once more.

After powering up the conductor cells, Buff Frog slung the heavy refrigerant tank over his shoulders by the attached straps. He grasped the canon in his hands, flipped the switch over to standard rapid-fire mode, and disengaged the safety. He took a deep breath, put a finger to the trigger, and, with a furious battle cry, stood up to full height. General Bulgolyubov let loose a furious defensive slurry of crimson lasers as the _Raventalon _resumed its climb up through Mewni's atmosphere.

**Vapor-locking is a condition that affects internal combustion engines that have a carburetor. Apparently, the Raventalon is carbureted.**


End file.
